New BACHE Mural in Tulum, Mexico

Moniker recently partnered with Horizontes Mexicanos, an art festival in Tulum focused on spotlighting and celebrating artists from across Mexico, curated by Tulum Art Club. We had the honour to support a new mural going up in the La Valeta District of Tulum by the talented artist BACHE.

Let's deep dive into his work and inspiration in this 6 question interview.

1.  You started painting at a young age, can you remember what it was that first peaked your interest in art? 

It started in high school when a classmate introduced me to graffiti. I saw him paint letters with shapes and colors on walls, which amazed me deeply. It was then that this great unconscious interest in creating a dialogue through figuration and color arose.

2.  Tell us about your experience at university - how did the course influence and ready you for the life of being a professional artist? 

It influenced me in a very important way, in opening a very broad panorama to what I was already doing without realizing it and above all inquiring more into the history of art, as well as the different disciplines that surround it.

3.  Your first mural was in 2012 - can you remember what you painted and why you painted it? 

My friend at university had already completed a few walls, and I was already painting a few small things. But one day he invited me to come paint on a Sunday, and I created my first mural, featuring a split heron with plants and some rather strange colors. Haha, it marked a huge turning point in my understanding of walls.

4.  Your work combines stylistic reference from the Old Masters with a contemporary edge - do you have any main influences from the Old Master painters?

Yes, I have great admiration for and influence from Velázquez’s work, with its precise and subtle handling of composition, as well as that brushwork that epitomizes great mastery of figuration. Among other great influences are Goya and Rembrandt.

5.  Many of your paintings depict figures with their faces, usually, hidden by some aspect of nature - is there a reason for this choice?

I try to give more prominence to the body and its surroundings. Suggesting a mystery that leads you to connect with the character, the scene, the symbols, or the organic elements that complete the narrative of a non-portrait. This can be analyzed from various angles, and what transpires with each of them changes as we observe it, almost becoming a mirror of ourselves.

6. Tell us more about your mural for Horizontes Mexicanos - what’s it about / why did you choose the subject matter?

Title: Dream of Duality.

The mural is filled with astrological symbolism that takes on a meaning for the observer.

It is constituted by this divine spark or glimmer that guides the flow of a whole.

Highlighting as its main figure a girl holding in her hands this organic hybrid of plants and a macaw that embodies solar energy, which in turn highlights this bird migration so important to the ecosystem itself.

I have been working on this theme for some time in some works; this time, the festival and the venue lend themselves to this composition, which is very important to me.

Follow BACHE at: @bachebache

Follow the Festival: @horizontesmexicanos