Sign Painting

is Alive

In Mexico

(with thanks to

Google Street View)

Curated by Finbar Lenahan

Sign Painting is (with thanks to

Prior to the digital age, sign painting was a well re-spected craft. Every shop or business would need to pro-mote themselves through type and image and the better quality of the sign, the more professional was the overall look. All over the world beautifully crafted hand painted signs bright-ened up the high street with unique brilliance and colour. However, towards the end of the 20th Century something happened that modern day sign painters call ‘The Vinyl Apocalypse’. Digital technology made it easier and faster to mass produce signs for shops and businesses. Almost over night high streets all over

Europe and North America transformed from won-drous displays of trade craft beauty to monotonous shop after shop of lifeless and repetitive similarity. The real shame behind it is that the digital alternatives are ex-tremely expensive in com-parison to the average wage charged by sign painters. However, as more and more shops (despite the outra-geous costs) followed by the example of others it is now rare to see a beautifully hand painted sign in Europe or North America.

This however, is not the case beyond the border of North America. Sign painting is still alive and thriving in the ex-

Alive in MexicoGoogle Street View)

citing and colourful country of Mexico. The reasons for this are simple, the Mexi-cans don’t see the point in shelling out vast amounts of cash for something that has been done to a far better quality for years for double the price. The result of their sensibility is that the streets are decorated in amaz-ing hand painted signage, bringing colour a life to the streets, reminiscent of a pre ‘vinyl apocalyptic’ Europe or North America.

I however, have never been to Mexico. I unfortunately live in one of the countries where the digital age has wiped out hand painted signage and left us with dull

and lifeless signs every-where I look. I do however, have access to the internet and through ‘Google Street View’ I have been able to virtually travel the streets of these fascinating Mexican towns gawping at the art adorning the walls. I have collated a series of images taken from ‘Google Street View’, from variety of cities, towns and small villages that show case the beauty that is Mexican Sign Painting, still very much alive in the 21st century.

Sign Painting is Alive in Mexico(with help from Google Street View)

Designed, written and curated by Finbar Lenahan

Special thanks to Google

Places visited :

AcapulcoChihuahuaCórdobaFresnillo Garcia Mexico CityMoreliaOrizabaPueblaReynosaSaltilloTampicoTuxtepecXalapa

finbarlenahan.co.uk