Sign Painting is (with thanks to

Prior to the digital age, sign painting was a well respected craft. Every shop or business would need to promote them-selves 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 brightened 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 Apoca-lypse’. 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 wondrous

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 comparison to the average wage charged by sign painters. However, as more and more shops (despite the outrageous 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 exciting and colourful country of Mexico. The reasons for this are simple, the Mexicans don’t see the point in

Alive in MexicoGoogle Street View)

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 amazing 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 everywhere 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.

Curated by Finbar Lenahan

Sign Painting is Alive in Mexico

Designed, written and curated by Finbar Lenahan

(with help from Google Street View)

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Places visited :

AcapulcoChihuahuaCórdobaFresnillo Garcia Mexico CityMoreliaOrizabaPueblaReynosaSaltilloTampicoTuxtepecXalapa

finbarlenahan.co.uk