Who is Pedro Linares López, the Mexican to whom Google dedicates its Doodle today

This Tuesday 29 June Google Doodle celebrates birthday 115 by the Mexican artist who made a dream come true. We tell you about his life and work

Photo: Google / Courtesy

Pedro Linares López, the father of alebrijes, stars in today’s Google Doodle . The Mexican artist is known for his funny animal sculptures that have impressed the whole world. And if you want to know more about this figure, we will tell you who it is.

Linares was born in Mexico City on 29 June 1906. His father was a papier-mâché sculptor and he learned everything from him. The artist followed in his footsteps and for his 12 years had already been transformed into a skilled craftsman of piñatas and skulls that are used in the celebration of Day of the Dead. However, his art would evolve further.

When I had 39 years, Pedro Linares became seriously ill, that was when it began to conceive his fantastic creatures, who shouted a phrase that was marked in his memory: “Alebrijes” . After recovering, he proposed to recreate the animals that he had hallucinated and combining elements of reptiles, birds and mammals began to give them he forms his creatures that are currently part of the Mexican culture.

His creations caught the attention of many and little by little they became more popular, gaining the admiration of iconic artists such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. On 1975 the filmmaker Judith Bronowski made a documentary that gave international fame.

On 1990 Pedro Linares was awarded the first National Prize of Arts and Sciences of Mexico in the category of Popular Arts and Traditions, two years later he passed away , I had 86 years.

Today’s Doodle was illustrated by Emily Barrera , who managed to capture the essence of alebrijes by combining it with the shape and colors of the classic Google logo, all inspired by the work of Linares who would be fulfilling today 115 years.

The Google Doodle in honor of Pedro Linares López can be seen in Mexico, Bulgaria, the United States, Guatemala, El Salvador , Honduras, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecu ador, Peru, Chile and Argentina.

Alebrijes are sculptures created from papier-mâché, cardboard and wood , these fantastic creatures make up for traits that combine bird beaks, bat wings, reptile legs, and more.

In pop culture they have also had representation, undoubtedly the most notorious has been in the film Coco by Disney Pixar.