Rock “Cyfi” Martinez has a long history in Tucson painting all styles of murals. You've probably seen his
gigantic new work just off 6th Street, part of the Downtown Murals Project.
Three nights ago, Friday night the 4th, he and the neighborhood just south of Mercado San Agustín inaugurated a new mural that's almost as big. It's like two murals in one. The main scene is the (married) Mexican couple of artists, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, dancing. Behind them are parts taken from Rivera's famous mural
Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda, which is located at the Museo Mural Diego Rivera in Mexico City.
We'll take a look at Rock's finished mural, the mural in Mexico City, some closeups of each, then a series of photos of Rock's mural being painted. First, the finished mural at dusk (with a table in front of it — part of the celebration, but also to help show the size of this mural):
Next, a photo of Rivera's mural. I took it from the balcony above the mural. (Like always, you can click for a larger view.)
You probably won't see the similarities without some closeups. Near the left edge of Rivera's mural, just to the right of the balloons:
Now the same part of Rock's mural:
In the background, instead of the Alameda Central (a big Mexico City park), is a Sonoran Desert silhouette.
The rest of Rock's mural isn't taken as directly from Diego's. Here's the middle of Rivera's. In front at the left is Diego. Behind him, Frida:
Next, Cyfi's. The man tipping his hat is smaller, more in the background. Frida and Diego are dancing, and Rivera is holding an artist's palette under one arm:
Rock added a cactus in Frida's hair. I think it's a part of his Cactus People series. Another is the Agave Lady in the 6th Avenue mural (see the start of this entry). A third is Mayahuel, the Goddess of Agave, in his 2014 mural on CostLess Auto Parts. You can photos of that mural
on this blog, as well as
on Rock's website.
Amazing mural, isn't it? I hope the news reaches the museums dedicated to Diego and to Frida in Mexico City!
Finally, here are some photos of the mural being made. On October 23, Rock is at the middle of a hydraulic lift, painting the left edge with a man who's learning mural-painting from him.
The center of the mural is finished more than the edges:
On October 26th, Rock is at work by himself. It's hot:
He's doing fast work! Three days after the previous set of photos, a lot of the detail looks basically finished:
November 4th, it's time to celebrate. The lot in front of the mural is filling with tables, chairs, and guests (most, I'd guess, from the neighborhood). And, of course, there's the mural. Here are photos of the left, right and center:
My camera says that both of my photos were taken on September 16, 2016, at 1:50 PM. They couldn't both have been taken then — as the first one shows “Back on Tuesday” — so please take a guess (if you'd like) of the dates.
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