For years we Mexicans have been taught about the three great muralists of Mexico: Diego Rivera, Clemente Orozco and Alfaro Siqueiros. However, after traveling through various parts of the country I have discovered that they have not been the only ones to paint the walls.

These are some photographs that I have taken of various murals around Mexico that are as, or more beautiful, than those of “the big three”.

It is worth mentioning that Mexican muralism was an artistic trend that was born in the roaring 20’s with the idea of educating Mexicans through painting. That is why many are quite playful, they play with history and fascinate for their optical effects. Here is a sample of how colorful Mexican walls are.

Goverment Palace at Tlaxcala

Prehispanic period of Tlaxcala (1967)
Desiderio Hernández

The story goes that when the indigenous Desiderio tried to see Diego Rivera’s murals in Mexico City, a racist guide stopped him. That is why Desiderio created his own with the help of the Tlaxcala government.

Anthropology National Museum (Origins Hall)

Las Razas / The Races (1964)
Jorge González Camarena

Hotel Posada La Misión

Cuauhtémoc Redivivo (1956)
Juan O’Gorman

O’Gorman created this mural in honor of the Aztec emperor Cuauhtémoc whose remains had supposedly been found near the heavenly town of Taxco. Later it was learned that the remains were false.

Guadalajara subway

Inside the Guadalajara light rail there are several scenes from the history of the city captured with ceramics on the platforms.

Francisco Villa Museum

Mexiquense Cultural Center

Tlatelolco: lugar de sacrificio / Tlatelolco: place of sacrifice (1989)
Arnold Belkin

Arnold Belking started the mural in 1982 around the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre. Because it was a subject still censored by the state, he presented it until 1989 when he managed to gather photos and information from those who survived the event.

Taxco City Council

La fiesta de Taxco / Taxco Fiesta (1960)
Luciano Cabrera

Central Library of Toluca

Cosmogonía Nahuatl / Nahuatl cosmogony (1987)
Luis Nishizawa

With the help of Metepec clay, Luis Nishizawa created several ceramic murals.

Mexico City subway

Del códice al mural (1987)
Guillermo Ceniceros

This mural tells the myth of Aztlán’s journey to the founding of Tenochtitlán. When people change from one train to another, the steps they take at the station guide them through the mythical history.

Anthropology National Museum (South Hall)

Mural para la sala de los pueblos del sur (1964)
Arturo García Bustos

Anthropology National Museum (Maya Hall)

El mágico mundo de los mayas / The mayans magic world (1964)
Leonora Carrington

When the surrealist easel painter Leonora Carrington was commissioned a work that would form part of the informative material in the Mayan hall of the Museum of Anthropology, she investigated the myths and legends of the indigenous people of the region. The result was the only mural she ever painted in her entire life.

National Autonomous University of Mexico

La conquista de la energía / The Conquest of Energy (1953)
José Chávez Morado

SCOP Center

Canto a la patria / Sing to the homeland (1953)
Juan O’Gorman

The SCOP center was built on all its facades with colored pebbles. Each pebble has a number in case it falls, it is known where it was going. It tells the history of telecommunications in Mexico according to the advanced technology of the 1950s.

Goverment Palace of Zacatecas

History of Zacatecas (1970)
Antonio Pintor

Conspirators Museum at Querétaro

Defensa de la Madre Patria / Defense of the Motherland (2015)
Gonzálo García and Tania Quezada

While living in this house, Tania and Gonzálo, with the help of various artist friends, painted the history of the Mexican conspiracy for independence. All in pastel tones and decorated as if you were entering a house of European imperial decadence.

Secretary of Public Education

Ecuación en acero / Equation in steel 2010
Manuel Felguérez

Medical Center S.XXI

Homenaje al rescate / Tribute to the rescue (1989)
José Chávez Morado

This mural represents the rescue of the survivors of the 1985 earthquake where several buildings collapsed at this very point.

Antonieta Rivas Auditorium

Experiencia KINECT (2012)
Dr. Lakra

When this mural was inaugurated, there was a mobile application that allowed us to see it in motion and know its apocalyptic meanings.

Newspaper library Lerdo de Tejada

La revolución y sus elementos / The revolution and its elements (1982)
Vlady

The newspaper library was previously a Catholic temple. The mural speaks of the history of world revolutions and encompasses the entire building, which is why they call it “the Sistine Chapel of Revolutions”

Supreme Court of Justice

Los siete crímenes mayores del estado / The seven major crimes of the state (2009)
Rafael Cauduro

To criticize government corruption, this mural was painted on the steps of the Palace of Justice. Each floor represents a crime. The judges usually avoid going through there, since kidnappings, rapes, attacks, murders and the suspended file cabinets are shown courtesy of the Mexican justice system.

Park of the old train station to Cuernavaca

Viaje del siglo XX / 20th century journey (2006)
Ariosto Otero

Aguascalientes Palace

Feria de San Marcos (1961)
Osvaldo Barra

This controversial mural at the time of being inaugurated, caused outrage. To portray the famous Feria de San Marcos, Osvaldo did not omit details, so he included a prostitute and a famous restaurant where homosexuals used to meet. A radical group tried to destroy it because they said “that” did not exist in the city.

Queretaro House

Escudo patrio (2015)
Victor Cauduro

Specialty Hospital

Evolución y futuro de la ciencia médica en México / Evolution and future of medical science in Mexico (1958)
Chávez Morado brothers

Mexico City Metro

London Underground (1990)
Rafael Cauduro

Mormon Temple Museum and Visitor Center

Christ among the pre-Hispanic Indians (¿1983?)
Unknown artist

This mural with Christ appearing among the Mayan and Aztec ruins, is located next to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The temple in Mexico is the only Mormon temple built with pre-Hispanic decorations and frets.

Gallery of the Ministry of Finance

El quijote, mensaje oportuno / Don Quixote, a timely message (1981)
Benito Messenger

CDMX International Airport

La conquista del aire por el hombre / The conquest of the air by man (1938)
Juan O’Gorman

The mural that shows the great advances of aviation until 1938 was a gift that Juan O’Gorman made to his friend Frida Khalo.

Goverment Palace of Querétaro

La Reforma / Reforma war (2015)
Víctor Cauduro

Lottery Building

El juego de la fortuna / Fortune game (2010)
Ariosto Otero

Only by looking at the details of the mural, it is possible to discover that it is made with lottery tickets, gambling machines, fortune wheels and games of chance stuck to the wall.

Divino Redentor Church

Divino Redentor / Christ redeemer (¿1956?)
Unknown artist

Zona Rosa Street

El estudio del pintor / Artist studio (1993)
José Luis Cuevas

In this same place the painter José Luis Cuevas revealed his “ephemeral mural” in 1967. Thus he challenged the great muralists to forget ideologies and stop seeing muralism as something perpetual, hegemonic and permanent. The mural was destroyed after a week of exhibition and is still considered by critics as the end of the Mexican muralist movement.

Ironically, years later he inaugurated a tiny mural here that represents him in his studio…

Mexicans really love murals…

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