LAPIZTOLA OAXACA

Lapiztola is a collective consisting of the designers Roberto Vega and Rosario Mtz.

When political revolution gripped Oaxaca City, Mexico for over seven months in 2006, indignation over the state governor's violent response to a teachers' strike led to a street art movement which saw the walls of Oaxaca speak out in outrage. It was from this uprising that Lapiztola was born.

Taking its name from the Spanish words lapiz (pencil) and pistola (pistol), the Collective was inspired by the events gripping their hometown which has led them to create work that highlights and denounces injustices Mostly working with stencil and serigraphy, they create street art to protest and visually communicate with society while introducing a personal touch to an urban space. 

Their work has spread far beyond Oaxaca and the upheavals of 2006. In recent years, their work which ranges from the dark to the playful, has highlighted everything from the cult of the drug lords and the use of genetically modified corn to the plight of Central American migrants and the enduring grief of the mothers who have waited decades to bury the bodies of their disappeared children.

Lapiztola have collaborated on a range of projects globally, including: La Bienal de la Habana, Cuba, El Maiz es nuestra vida; Michigan University, Por la Sangre Derramada; Valparaiso, Chile and Spain, Laberinto de Miradas; Mission Cultural Centre, San Francisco, Más de 50.000; Museo de la Memoria Indomita, México, El Abrazo Ausente; Los Angeles, Maíz para la Gallina; Candyland Gallery, Stockholm, Instrucciones para un Largo Viaje; Santos, Brasil, Encuentro de Colectivos; Galería Gorila, Oaxaca, México, Extinción; Rich Mix in association with Global Justice Now, London, Democracia Real Ya!; Museo de Arte Popular, México D.F, Nuevo Códice: Migración y Memoria Cultural.

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