In 1936, Pedro Linares, an artist who specialized in papier-mâché piñatas, masks, and Judas figurines, fell gravely ill. As his fever soared, he began to hallucinate that he was walking in a forest. He felt peaceful until the rocks, trees, and clouds started sprouting wings, horns, and tails, morphing into brightly colored chimerical creatures that chanted the same nonsensical word—“alebrije, alebrije”—over and over again.   

When Linares recovered, he quickly got to reproducing the whimsical beings from his dream. The resulting papier-mâché figurines earned the attention of various gallery owners and artists, and their popularity soon spread throughout the country to places like Oaxaca, where they carved them from copal wood. Today the towns of San Martín Tilcajete and La Union Tejalapan are world-renowned centers for the art of alebrije. Read Less