El Jimador Tequila recently sent us to Mexico. Here's the first of three stories we did there.Mexican street art proudly defines itself by the culture it springs from. As Cesar Ortega, curator at Mexico City’s The City Loves You gallery attests, “Mexicans always use their cultural identity, the folklore of the country. Many artists here have this feeling of spreading our culture to the world because, as Mexicans, that's what’s been given to us all our lives. There are many different themes in the work. Many draw on icons like Lucha Libre wrestlers, where others might use Malverdes (The God of Drug dealers) or other Narco stuff that represents the cartel war that parts of the country are suffering from. A lot of the work is inspired by our ancestors, by the Mayans, the Aztecs and other pre-Hispanic cultures or mythological figures. In other parts of the world, you may see more artists creating out of their own beliefs, or their story of life, but Mexicans always think of representing home. I don't see that a lot in other places where street art has grown this big."
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