Check it out.
By Patrick Hoge | Examiner staff writer
Apr 29, 2025
Angélico Jiménez’ “The Cat,” on display at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco on Friday, April 25, 2025, is among the art pieces on display at the Colossal Creatures in Bloom installation through June 22.
Like creatures from a fevered dream, giant, multicolored statues of fantastical beings from the heart of Mexico have appeared in downtown San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens, where they will tower over visitors free of charge until June 22.
The whimsical sculptures, called “alebrijes” and “nahuales,” weigh about 1,200 pounds each and stand around 20 feet tall with their large bases, which in turn weigh about 1,000 pounds apiece and are further weighed down with water ballast containers.
The pieces are larger-than-life Mexican folk art made from fiberglass and other materials. The alebrijes represent animalistic spirit guides, while the nahuales are representative of “shapeshifting indigenous religious practitioners,” according to the nonprofit Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy, which manages the area under a city lease.
“As soon as we started putting the first one up, people were stopping,” said Seve Ghose, executive director of the conservancy.
Big Mexican mythical figures appear in Yerba Buena Gardens
Greg