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An X-ray dog, an armadillo with bat wings, an alien with a mohawk, a cloisonne-patterned bunny rabbit: these are just some of the fantastical fiberglass creatures guarding Robinson Park in Downtown sa国际传媒官网网页入口, now through July 17. Standing up to 20 feet tall, painted in psychedelic patterns and pulsating at night with multicolored LEDs, these wildly imaginative monumental sculptures are sure to delight and amaze visitors.

When I strolled through the park one night, I saw a dad lift his son onto his shoulders to get a better view of the bunny. Two people were taking selfies in front of the alien. It鈥檚 eye-catching, crowd-pleasing public art 鈥� the kind of thing that serious artists and critics tend to bemoan as all flash and no substance, like those 鈥淐owParade鈥� sculptures that have been popping up in cities around the world since 1998 or those giant pink snails that took over Miami in 2010 during Art Basel Miami Beach. Call it eye candy. Call it spectacle. Public art installations like these are as festive and fun as Macy鈥檚 Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, and there鈥檚 nothing wrong with that. But I wouldn鈥檛 normally write about them.

These are different. The eight monumental sculptures in 鈥淔antastic Animals from Mexico: Alebrijes and Nahuales鈥� might look bright and fun, but they were born from nightmares 鈥� literally.

In Mexico City in 1936, the artist Pedro Linares suffered a high fever that knocked him unconscious. He awoke shouting the nonsense word 鈥渁lebrijes.鈥� No one knew what he was trying to say. Eventually, he explained that he had seen terrifying visions of demonic hybrid creatures with wings and fangs, which he called 鈥渁lebrijes.鈥� Because Linares was skilled in cartoner铆a, or Mexican papier-m芒ch茅, he sculpted his visions, each one more bizarre than the last. His alebrijes became extremely popular. Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera collected them. Other cartoner铆a artists made their own versions, and Linares鈥� children and grandchildren innovated the tradition with brighter paints, more intricate detailing and longer-lasting varnishes. As the Linares鈥� family鈥檚 fame spread, they attracted celebrity customers from rock stars in the The Rolling Stones to filmmaker Guillermo del Toro.

Meanwhile, in Oaxaca, Mexico, wood carvers who had traditionally made D铆a de los Muertos masks and religious icons started carving alebrijes, as well. They associated Linares鈥� new, chimerical creatures with pre-Colombian concepts, such as tonas (guardian spirits) and nahuales (shape-shifting sorcerors).

The 鈥淎lebrijes and Nahuales鈥� installation Downtown includes true alebrijes, which canonically must be composed of parts from multiple animals. For instance, Pedro Linares鈥� grandson, Leonardo Linares, has designed a 鈥淟ionbull鈥� with the head of a lion, the horns of a bull, scaly green skin and bat wings. Angelico Jimenez鈥檚 鈥淭he CatNahual,鈥� on the other hand, is a nahual 鈥� a bearded wizard who鈥檚 becoming a cat. 鈥淭he Dog鈥� by Adrian Xuana and 鈥淭he Rabbit鈥� by Mar铆a Jim茅nez are probably better classified as tonas, although it鈥檚 possible they could be nahuales who have completely transformed into their animal bodies.

Small-scale maquettes and other sculptures by the participating artists will be on view on select floors of City Hall through July 17. Meanwhile, the Consulate of Mexico in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 is presenting its own very small but significant exhibition, 鈥淎lebrijes: A Linares Family Tradition,鈥� through the end of August, after which it will travel to other parts of New Mexico and Texas. The 鈥淎lebrijes鈥� exhibition at the consulate was co-curated by Nora Dolan of the Museum of International Folk Art and Marta Turok, who directs the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C. It includes examples of three generations of Linares family alebrijes, along with a documentary video. The City Hall exhibition focuses on the Oaxacan wood carving tradition, whereas the Consulate of Mexico one focuses on the Mexico City-based cartoner铆a tradition 鈥� and the Linares family, in particular. I recommend both to anyone who wants to dive into the rich and complex history behind these fantastical beasts.

I came to Robinson Park already knowing the story of Pedro Linares, so as I strolled around 鈥� first in the daytime, then at night 鈥� I kept thinking about his near-death experience. How strange that his private, hellish visions could evolve, nearly a century later, into dazzling works of monumental art that bring joy to children and adults alike. And how inspiring that, as his monsters became ubiquitous across Mexico, people began to associate them with ancient Indigenous traditions. After all, jaguar-men and other hybrid beings are found throughout Mesoamerican art from 3,000-year-old Olmec sculptures to those of the present day. The alebrijes connect Mexico鈥檚 ancient, mythic past to its future by way of 20th century folk art and Mexican surrealism, creating a cultural throughline that鈥檚 surprisingly vigorous and robust. I imagine these monumental sculptures will be especially resonant for the approximately 160,000 first-, second- and third-generation Mexicans currently living in sa国际传媒官网网页入口.

Some people might criticize the spectacularization of the alebrijes and nahuales traditions 鈥� the blowing up of what were essentially puppet-sized figurines into 20-foot, glowing fiberglass sculptures 鈥� as a commercialization or Disneyfication of culture. I see it much more positively, as a triumphant celebration of culture and community, and the scale is necessary to have the impact that it does.

Beyond community and culture, these works also celebrate psychological healing across generations 鈥� the transformation of Linares鈥� red-hot fever dream into art. Any artist who鈥檚 inherited any form of generational trauma can do what Linares and his descendants have done. Rather than trying to block out those nightmare visions, ignoring or repressing them, you can embrace them. Turn old monsters into friends and guardians.

We can remember the monsters of the past 鈥� historical, fictional or mythic 鈥� without letting them retraumatize us. An ancestral monster, misshapen by pain, becomes a genie in a lamp for an artist. From the monstrous to the fantastical, from the diabolical to the delightful, from the hellish to the celestial, suffering gives way to creative expression. And creative expression 鈥� when brought into the public square 鈥� creates space for communal joy and wonder.

Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the sa国际传媒官网网页入口. He covers visual art, music, fashion, theater and more. Reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com or on Instagram at .