ArteAntigua Actively delving into La Antigua’s dynamic realm of art

He works as an administrator in his bookstore. At times, he visits surrounding communities as a qualified agronomy engineer:

“I visit poor communities to teach them how to properly prepare their lands for sustainable farming.”

And when he’s not doing that, Alejandro (Alex) Salazar Merck paints, draws, writes, simply… creates.

“It can be color, it can be paint, it can be pencil, it can be a Bic pen…”

Much of it he says is just the result of “scribbling something… I call it expressing myself.”

Merck’s “self-expression” is haphazardly scattered about his small bookstore at #25 Avenida Desengaño. Visitors can spy a handful of small, hand-framed drawings through the metal bars over the counter. Those allowed to venture further inside the shop will find a couple finely, detailed paint splurges on the walls or the doors. The rest… is in a box.

“I save it. I save it because I never have time for anything. Maybe today, I wake up with the desire to write or I wake up with the desire to simply sleep. Another day it’s to paint.”

The desire to create can’t be ignored, he says, when he feels it in the pit of his stomach.

“You wake up with the pain rising up in your stomach and you have to write, or paint, or simply scribble some profane words on a sheet of paper in order to release what you have inside.”

But, Merck says anything and everything can inspire him:

“Colors. The day that comes with sunrise. Also gray. Or, women. Everything is inspiration. A book. A book inspires a lot.”

To the nonchalant observer, Merck’s paintings, drawings, scribbles, what have you are finely-detailed, ornate designs that sometimes take a familiar shape and other times simply wind and curve in intriguing allure. Even Merck has a hard time defining his art:

“I don’t know… They are kind of Maya with urban and graffiti. Something like that.”

One drawing that really draws attention depicts a woman decorated with wings like a butterfly or angel. But, she has remained unfinished for three years. The drawing was damaged from being stored in a humid box and Merck explains that he “needs to have completely clean paper in order to work.” So, he has left this scarcely-marred creation as is…

The paper Merck uses is usually nothing more than what he can find in the street.

“We use poster paper that we find, from Orange Crush ads, political ads. The back part of the paper, the cardboard is very smooth and when you dampen it a little bit it really helps you move your hand well.”

This fits well, he says, with his strongly-rooted philosophy for caring after the environment.

When asked if he ever wanted to exhibit his work:

“The truth is, I feel that I need a little more in order to be able to fill a couple of rooms,” Merck joked. But he quickly affirmed that yes, an opportunity to share his creations would be most welcome.

The more colorful drawings pictured in the photo gallery below are part of a project Merck started because he was inspired by an exhibition about the Panzós massacre of 1978, which was being displayed at the Central Cultura de España. Dozens of Guatemalan peasants were killed in this massacre after attempting to protest against local plantation owners. Merck explains that he was born on the very day of the bloody tragedy: March 29, 1978.

“So I began to draw animals and a little of the history in my words of what happened with the kids that survived the massacre.”

Listen to ArteAntigua’s interview with Merck:

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See a photo gallery of Merck’s work:

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