While we gear up for Art Basel in Miami – where everyone will OOOH and AHHH over graffiti art in places like Wynwood Walls and in the galleries – the real talent lies south of the border in Oaxaca, Mexico. Here, in almost every street, are miles of graffiti art, intricately painted Alejibres wood sculptures and embroidery most collectors would die for. It is the new Beco de Batman, and the secret of art collectors everywhere. Thank you to The Muddy Boot for taking me on the ultimate art tour of Mexico. Towns visited included Oaxaca and the Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle, where the masters of the Day of the Dead “carpets” (sculpture made of sand and flowers) reside. In this town, the main road leading from the cathedral to the cemetery is lined with Skeletal graffiti and shops that make special burial carpets – which can cost up to $300 a pop and only stay up for one day (a lot of money when your average annual salary is only $1K a year).
The area also specializes in textiles – hand dyed and hand woven carpets or wall hangings which are intricately embroidered. The process can take a year depending on how large the carpet/hanging is. For anyone who loves art, this is a must see.
- In Oaxaca there is also a history of textiles, with finely done embroidery
- This doll was in a 500 year old church outside of Guadalajara. Spooky much?
- Close up of a Oaxacan Alebrijes Wolf
- Mexican Alebrijes wood art
- It’s like a Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden album cover
- From death to life
- The yellow skull face takes up one entire wall
- Ole, my lovely Alebrijes toro!
- Montezuma’s ultimate revenge
- And the butterflies filled the air…
- Graffiti art goes to new heights in Zapatita
- The fish from the Old Man and the Sea
- This skeleton is clearly of the Kardashian line.
- The tiny town of Zapitita, Mexico is the capital of Day of the Dead actvities in Oaxaca.
- I can’t believe you ate the apple!
- Death is a party on Day of the Dead
- If Karl were a piece of Oaxacan Alebrijes art, this would be him.
- It takes one worker over six months to embroider a plaque like this which is two feet by two feet.




















