Armando Jimenez is the grandson of Don Manuel Jiménez Ramírez, the founder of the Oaxacan alebrije tradition. He works in San Antonio Arrazola, the village where the tradition began, carrying his grandfather's legacy forward with his wife Antonia and his own family.
This roadrunner is full of personality. Mid-stride, head tipped back, beak open, crest raised high, tail fanned upright like a banner behind him. The carving has all the comic energy of the real bird, that desert sprinter who runs faster than he flies.
The painting is classic Jimenez family work: a deep brick red body marked with fine black flicks, a turquoise crest tipped in coral, a wing patterned in lavender and rose dots, an underbelly banded in pink ovals, mustard legs with their spotted markings. The fanned tail is the painter's playground, vertical stripes of teal, orange, purple, and white, each one filled with a different row of dots.
In the Mexican countryside, the roadrunner, known as the correcaminos or paisano, is a creature of good fortune, said to bring luck to anyone whose path it crosses.
A joyful piece from the family who started it all.
