by Zyanya Gallegos

On Saturday, April 9th for International Unicorn Day, Galeria Nepantla will be having a grand opening for the unveiling of unicorn paintings by contemporary myth painter, Isis Rodriguez.

Her first exhibition entitled, "Legends from the Realm of Nepantla" brought her praise even while being trolled as "the Freddy Kruger of the art world" by social media critics. During the pandemic, Isis battled social media giants, like Facebook and Google, for the right to post intelligent writing about her art works.

Zyanya Gallegos: Google defines International Unicorn Day as a chance to celebrate mythological horned horses by eating cupcakes with sprinkles of glitter. Is this what we should expect at your art opening?

Isis Rodriguez: [Laughing] Yes, most art openings have food and drink and there will certainly be some desserts rocking the unicorn theme. Five hundred years ago, a unicorn was a popular, mythical animal. In paintings and on shields in Europe unicorns represented purity as well as a country's power, its acquisition of land and peoples and its nobility. Now it's a completely different concept. Now it represents something "novel," new or unique.

I like to create an art shows that expose common archetypes. Some of these archetypes are mirrored or proposed on social media. Others, more radical ones, are underground in the consciousness of everyday people. Today, the unicorn is a people's symbol of change.

Zyanya: Why a blue unicorn? Why not pink or purple?

Isis: Colors are symbolic. Western culture finds the color blue to be extraordinary and even unattainable. We are living in extraordinary times, and our expectations of others are simply unattainable. In Mexico, especially in ancient times, the color blue meant light, water and heat, especially in tropical regions. The Mayan used to paint their sacrificial victims blue.

Zyanya: Interesting. Can you give me an example, from your upcoming art show "Blue Unicorn," of an archetype that represents common people?

Isis: Yes, of course. The painting titled "Organismo", is about how science is replacing God. I was listening to two scientific podcasts from Lex Fridman. One is named, "The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds". In it, Sara Walker, an astrobiologist, claims that we can now send an organism to Mars, which blew my mind.

The second podcast is named, "David Fravor: UFO's, Aliens and Fighter Jets and Aerospace Engineering" In it a navy pilot recounts coming into contact with an Unidentified Ariel Phenomenon. In the common narrative, it is supposed that as aliens arrive to earth, they will be disappointed in humans. But I think they would actually be mesmerized by our planet's diversity of flower, fauna and humans. I couldn't help thinking that maybe the reason why they are here, hovering over oceans is because they are organisms wanting to evolve and turn into something new, novel, therefore, a unicorn. And in this painting, the rays of light come from an alien source that is Godlike.

Zyanya:That's pretty deep. I'll have to watch those videos. And I can't wait to come to your show. When is it?

Isis: This year, I will have two art openings:

One is private, for art collectors who want to avoid big crowds and enjoy an intimate cocktail evening with me. This will happen on Thursday, April 7, 6-8pm. You can reserve for the Blue Unicorn Art Collector Cocktail Hour directly with me at isis@isisrodriguez.com

The second opening will be:

"Grand Opening for Blue Unicorn Art Exhibit"
International Unicorn Day, Saturday, April 9, 4-7pm
with a DJ and big, amazing crowd.
Free to the public, but reservations are recommended.

Reserve

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Zyanya Gallegos studied Communication and Digital Media and in the process fell in love with the world of publicity. She has been working as a Social Media Manager in San Miguel de Allende and Querétaro for more than three years. She loves helping people, animals, culture, art and learning new things.