Mayas Taqueria is home cooked Mexican cuisine fine dining in downtown Portland, OR. The mural above the restaurant is a large scale depiction of a classic Mayan scene. The original painting was done 20 years ago in the fall of 1984 by a native Mexican man. The solo artist, Kuis Lopez, was around sixty years old when he did the mural. After 20 years, rainy Portland has taken its tole on the strength of the colors in the mural. As visual beings/artists, we decided to revive the mural. By restoring the mural we hope to restore the spirits of this "down economy." Many will see and experience this mural near the public library and public transit MAX station on the corner of SW 10th and Morrison.
The mural itself is divided into two walls. What are the meanings of the images in this mural? Well, even as the artists we couldn't figure out all of the meanings, but here are a few we discovered.
On the first wall, in the photo above, there is a large Mayan deity on the left side. She is blue, decorated in traditional Mayan costume with large jewelry pieces, headdress, sandals and staff. There is a small house of cob walls with a wooden deck and structural supports. The women are gathered in a semicircle around a fire making and cooking tortillas. What's a Mexican mural with out some maize?! Don't worry, the corn (maize) rows are behind the house. Some men are playing a traditional Mayan ball game that could be compared to a modern day version of a cross between Quidditch and basketball. The court fades into the overlooking city building. In the background the sun is rising atop the Chichen Itza pyramid of Mexico. Birds fly above the center of the scene one of which represents a Quetzal bird.
We hope to see you come by and take a look while eating some food!
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