Summer time is beer time, and there’s no better beer than Sol. Because art is way better than ads (see above), we’ve teamed up with Sol and invited some of Mexico’s best young artists to create some gritty, authentic Mexican artwork. No Old EL Paso art here, this is the real deal, straight from the pueblos of Mexico, capturing the colours and the attitude of one of the most vibrant places on earth.
Our first artwork comes courtesy of SR Cavalera, an artist based just north of Mexico City in Coacalco. Drawing equally from deep-rooted Mexican traditional imagery and modern examples of pop culture, SR Cavalera‘s work is cheeky, colourful and daring – just like Sol.
We spoke to SR Cavalera about his home, his heritage and his artistic process. (Luckily language is a barrier that art can overcome!). For more SR Cavalera awesomeness, check out his Flickr, his Facebook and his blog.
What inspiration do you take from indigenous Mexican culture? Well, I take a lot of colors, textures, animals, language, el albur (a subtle Mexican game or wordplay of using double entendres and sexual undertones), popular characters, skulls, traditions, flavours… I take everything from day-to-day life
What excites you about contemporary Mexican culture? I like to keep our traditions, it is very exciting to be able to live them and pass them on to new generations.
What is the world’s biggest misconception about Mexico? Everybody thinks that we all wear sombreros, that there’s only cacti and we just eat tacos. That’s a very big error. Mexico has a rich, impressive culture.
What inspires you? What’s inspiring to me is the street, language, national folklore, food, music – many things, many details of daily life. These are things that inspire me because I have seen them all my life.
What’s something people might not know about Mexico? Maybe the traditions, our food variety, and the lovely places in little towns. We have a lot of things to discover!
Explain your process when you make art. Well, I always try to conceptualize what I do. Really spend many hours thinking about how to work the concept, I take solitary journeys – sometimes on public transport, sometimes even in the bathroom! Later on all my ideas must go through my pencil. That, with a bit of music and magic are all the tools you need.
Tell us about your first memory appreciating or making art. My grandparents were artists, and drawing and engraving with them were my first contact with the arts.
Why is Mexico beautiful? For the people, the colours, the traditions, the parties and carnivales, the towns… Mexico is awesome!
Why is Mexico ugly? For the goverment and “leaders”, and the social inequality.
What is your favourite artwork and why? I don’t have a favourite artwork – they all have the same effort behind them.
