Chicago murals: Mauricio Ramirez ” Pilsen Warrior Mural ‘features an iconic Aztec eagle warrior figure symbolizing the stages of life

“It’s about evolution,” says Chicago muralist Mauricio Ramirez about his latest work, entitled “The Pilsen Warrior Mural.”

The mural, which extends across the side of an apartment building at 1541 W. 18th St., shows three colorful figures at different stages of life.

A small child looks up at a teenage boy wearing a Mexican serape. And there is an Aztec eagle warrior – a figure from ancient culture, seen in an eagle’s cloak and with a decorated shield, who gathered sacrifices to the gods, including Huitzilopochtli, the Mexican god of war, also often depicted as an eagle.

“I remember when I was growing up, as a teenager and a small child, I always looked up to my older cousins,” says Ramirez, 32. “I thought of them as my heroes. I always wanted to be that age. . “

The mural “talks about evolution and generations, how certain traditions are inherited,” he says.

Artist Mauricio Ramirez in his studio at Mana Contemporary in Pilsen.

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Starting, Ramirez says, he leaned heavily on a graffiti-like style. He says he took other techniques from working as a side job as an industrial painter and did things like paint planes.

Because the Aztec eagle warrior is common in Mexican culture – and as the logo of the airline Aeromexico – Ramirez says he intended to put his own spin on the image.

“I wanted to update it to see what it would look like in 2021,” he says. “There are a lot of murals out there that make cartoon-like works of art with hard lines or paint things very literally. I would like to switch it up.”

Mauricio Ramirez says he used his distinctive “poly-wave” style for his “Pilsen Warrior Mural”.

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Ramirez says he divided the mural into triangular sections, leaving some of these rooms at street level open to passers-by to help paint.

“A lot of my approach to public art is to involve society,” he says. “For this mural, I wanted them to come out and eventually give them ownership of the work that needs to go up.”

Click on the map below to see a selection of murals in the Chicago area