Mexico’s Mural Art is Getting a Modern Makeover

In this September 1, 2015 photo, a mural by Beatriz Avila Haro from the Street Art Chilango cooperative, decorates the exterior wall of Delirio restaurant in the Roma Norte neighborhood of Mexico City. Murals and street art have a long history in Mexico. Beginning in the 1920’s, Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros, and Jose Orozco painted public buildings with social and political messages, establishing murals as a pre-eminent Mexican art form. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

In this September 1, 2015 photo, artist Beatriz Avila Haro’s foot hangs from scaffolding as she paints a mural for Street Art Chilango inside the offices of an architecture firm, in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City. Ricardo del Razo, the architect who commissioned that project, said the 12-foot-tall mural will show a woman pressing a pencil to the drawing board, “devising how to solve problems”. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

In this September 1, 2015 photo, cans of spray paint sit as artist Andrik Figueroa Barreto, also known as Andrik Noble, creates the image of a storm trooper on the roof terrace of an architect’s office in the San Miguel Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City. Mexico’s mural art is getting a modern makeover. Former graffiti taggers and graphic designers have joined together in a cooperative called “Street Art Chilango”, painting walls and promoting their work on social media. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

In this September 1, 2015 photo, artist Andrik Figueroa Barreto, also known as Andrik Noble, paints a storm trooper holding a tray of wine glasses, on the roof terrace of an architect’s office in the San Miguel Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City, as part of the Street Art Chilango cooperative’s efforts to fill neighborhoods with street art. “I don’t have any studio. Everything is in the street”, said Noble, whose hands, t-shirt, and shorts were covered in paint smudges of a dozen different colors. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

In this September 1, 2015 photo, a cyclist passes a storm trooper mural painted by a Street Art Chilango member artist Andrik Figueroa Barreto, also known as Andrik Noble, outside Michoacan Market in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City. Though many artists started as graffiti taggers, group members can now earn a living from splashing walls with their paint. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

In this September 1, 2015 photo, storm troopers painted by Street Art Chilango member artist Andrik Figueroa Barreto, also known as Andrik Noble, adorns the Michoacan Market in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City. After a virtual map of the murals on streetartchilango.com began attracting attention to the art, the co-op began organizing walking tours on weekends. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

In this September 1, 2015 photo, a storm trooper mural decorates the exterior of the Michoacan Market in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City, by Street Art Chilango cooperative artist Andrik Figueroa Barreto, also known as Andrik Noble. In April 2013, the group’s founders launched the hashtag “#streetartchilango” so that anyone using Instagram could plot street art locations on the site’s interactive Google map. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

In this September 1, 2015 photo, street artists Jenaro de Rosenzweig, left, and Alejandro Revilla pose for a portrait behind a restaurant’s window covered with a mural by artist Francisco Munoz, signed with his artist’s name below, in the Roma Norte neighborhood of Mexico City. Rosenzweig and Revilla founded the “Street Art Chilango” cooperative in March 2013, which is filling neighborhoods with public art by local street artists. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)