Las Pozas is a surrealist garden created by Sir Edward James, a British
poet and major supporter of the Surrealist art movement. In 1949 James
chose the tropical jungles near Xilitla, San Luis Potosà in Mexico for
his garden of Eden.
Want to know more....
Edward James built one of the biggest and least known artistic
monuments of the 20th century known as Las Pozas. Over a 20 year period,
over 36 surrealistic structures were built in concrete at this
magnificent site.
Edward abandoned the intellectual, social and
artistic circles of London, Paris, New York and Hollywood for the
jungles of Mexico. He lived in Xilitla with his close companion Plutarco
Gastelum, a Yaqui Indian, and his family. Plutarco would later become
Edward's construction foreman at Las Pozas. El Castillo was built by
Plutarco and became the home of his family. Edward also lived there when
he wasn't staying at Las Pozas.
Before coming to Mexico to build
Las Pozas in the early 1950's, he had already led an extraordinary life.
His family owned a 300 room mansion and 6,000 acre estate in England,
which Edward later converted into West Dean College, now an
internationally recognized center for restoration arts.
Born to
immense wealth and privilege in 1907, Edward's life imitated the
surrealist art he loved and collected. He turned his back on the rigid
aristocratic circles of Edwardian England that he was born into, and
befriended and supported dozens of artists who would become household
names in later years. The people in his life included Dali, Picasso, and
Stravinsky. He wrote poetry all his life, however it was in his
building of Las Pozas that he realized himself as an artist.
Still intrigued?..... Visit the official website of
Las Pozas here
