Google Doodle celebrates Mexican artist Pedro Linares Lpez

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In 1936, a Mexican artist named Pedro Linares Lpez fell into a fevered dream while he was unconscious in bed. The dream represented his own death and rebirth mountainous region inhabited by ferocious and fantastic creatures, each of which shouted “Alebrijes, Alebrijes, Alebrijes!”

After his recovery, Linares began to recreate the beasts in the form of papier mache figurines so that his family and friends could see what he had dreamed of. His sculptures gave birth to the brightly colored Mexican folk art known as alebrije.

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To honor his contribution to art, Google dedicated its Doodle Tuesday to the artist’s 115th birthday celebration.

Born in Mexico City on June 29, 1906, Linares was trained in the art of cartonera, or the use of papier mache to create sculpted objects such as piate, human masks and calaveras, the cheeky skeletons central to the celebration of the Day of the Dead.

But his real success came when he got sick at the age of 30 and dreamed of a strange forest where he saw trees, animals, rocks, clouds that suddenly turned into strange animals with unnatural colors. He saw a donkey with butterfly wings, a rooster with bull’s horns, a lion with an eagle’s head, all singing the senseless “Alebrijes”. The terrible sound causes a Linares to suffer from a terrible headache before waking up.

Over the years, he has perfected his artwork, creating colorfully patterned sculptures with unusual combinations of reptiles, insects, birds and mammals like the one depicted in Tuesday’s Doodle. His fame grew and soon his art was admired and sought after by other iconic Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, among others.

In 1990 he was awarded the National Prize for Arts and Sciences in the Popular Arts and Traditions category, the Mexican government’s highest honor for artisans. He died two years later, at the age of 88.

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