The X in XFamilia.

By Ricardo Quezada.

Citius, altius, fortius, translated literally as stronger, higher and faster is the motto of Olympism and condenses the qualities that human beings aspire to refer to sport. For those who practice graffiti exercise, the Olympic notions are not a doctrine, they are a daily experience of life. Stronger art, higher walls and faster pints are the fundamental pillars that created the X famila

“A collective must be multidisciplinary, graffiti, stencil, roller, brush, documentary filmmakers and to some extent that makes a crew better composed”.  Frank.

In a country where art is perceived as a tool for demographic segmentation, public art represents one of the strongest forms of democratization of artistic expression. Under this motto, the members of the X familia create and have painted with a strong national identity message, creating with a discourse of aerosols and brushes pieces that seek to remove the passer-by from the urban monotony, throwing a stimulating cocktail of colors that due to the complexity and proportions becomes part of the urban iconography, as demonstrated by his piece Tlazokamatli in Tlatelolco for the Transmuta Festival.

Born of affinity and the desire to paint larger and larger walls, the X famila was formed unofficially Circa 2008 at some point on the map between Torreón and Tlaxcala, when the Mexican graffiti scene was in its original stage and the “super-events” and “expos” that celebrated a crew in a city were the bread and butter of every week; In this way, the tips were aligned until the original Xtreme Crew, a crew that wanted to paint monumental and extreme pints, coincided with the generation of the original Xtreme Crew, but faced with the need to find a meaning that would connect with each of its members and disavow the American ideals of the nickname Xtreme, Atler AKA the Satanic conceived the idea of X as the perfect cross of equilibrium: up, down, left and right, having the family as a natural consequence of the brotherhood of people who have been managing an identity style for years and above all sharing life as a family, as an X famila.

Descendants of an urban style that is not satisfied with the graffiti flush with the floor, the monumental work of the X familia has found in its fundamental differentiator, the macro format, the capacity to transcend and break the ephemeral nature of traditional graffiti creating a discourse of the street, for the street and with the street, where the game of interpreting signs and the massive valuation of the pieces in a public gallery is generated.

Graffiti is not street art, it is something unique, unclassifiable and its illegality is innate, but in recent years it has become a public manifestation of a scene that was invisible to other citizens and which, by inserting itself in the artistic circuit, swings in and out of the legal margins to generate Street art and it is at this point where work, more than a complication, is a way of living or surviving.

Beyond the urban romanticism that seeks to reflect the circuit of world street art where the pints appear on Facebook and Instagram and enhance the artistic or discursive quality, the creators, many initiated as graffiti artists, seek to dignify the craft and establish a stage with better opportunities yes, but with greater respect and humanity.

“The worst thing about the national urban art scene is the way some managers turn around and stop being human, that is, they see you and your talent as merchandise. That happens a lot with urban art and graffiti think that by giving you a support you can say artists, it seems that they think you paint and you don’t get tired, this is not a hobby is a lifestyle”.

Frank and Leba.

With their respective ups and downs, the members of the X familia, some of them married and with children, see in the new generations an opportunity to recover the way in which the paintings were generated: painting without waiting for them to be invited, taking initiative and, above all, believing that there is no wall that cannot be overcome in unity with your friends.

“Gather your things, your friends and paint. It is not a question of self-management, but of graffiti at heart, of the street, in which the Sunday pints are painted for example “.  Frank.

In the street there are codes and adagios that in one way or another normalize graffiti and in the same way the union of artists with managers seeks to create the union. The collaboration of Nueve Arte Urbano and X familia has managed to generate brotherhood between its people, becoming evident when the piece is finished in time and form, as if it were a gift for the city.

The future is full of murals, aerosols and paint for the X familia, a balance between colors, scaffolding, lifts, tips, family, friends and personal development, but before seeing the future Leba, Dark, Seckir and Frank look back and while they remember a little nostalgic and a little bit remorseful not to have started before and with more strength, and remember that in the X familia, a balance between colors, scaffolding, lifts, tips, family, friends and personal development.

The X familia started with the series of murals Afluente that makes paintings in the perimeter of the Cultural Center of the State Manuel Gómez Morín, where it will take place The Festival the Water is One with the piece “Al Vibrar de la danza” on Pasteur Avenue, Frank writes about it:

“Holy Cross you salute with a glow to the four primary axes
the result of communion between the sun and the moon
dance that unifies man with the cosmos
generating harmony and balance by vibrating your feet
like butterfly fluttering being free
life-giving seed
yoyotl that resonate one by one
resembling the fall of raindrops
Universal water transmitter that purifies
and give life to our existence.”

In a multi-diverse country, the 13 brothers from eight different states that make up the X famillia will continue to create murals that seek to highlight in a real and profound way the national identity in order to generate a nation in contact with its pride, aware that it is capable of transcending and overcoming its challenges. Always in union, always in collective, his work reminds us that in Mexico the X is of family.