page_title: Sotero Lemus
section_title: Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl workshop
hierarchical_section_title: Sotero Lemus / Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl workshop
caption_attribution_description: English: giant Judas at the 4th Feria de Cartoneria in Santa Maria la Ribera, Mexico City
context_page_description: Sotero Lemus Gervacio is a cartonería artisan who is known for his traditional toymaking and large figures. Although situated in the Mexico City metro area, Lemus' work and style is based on the cartonería traditions of Celaya, Guanajuato. He is a fourth-generation "cartonero," from a family who is noted in Celaya for its work. Lemus' work has been sold and exhibited in various parts of the world, including the United States, Europe and Central America. Since 2005, he has also been involved in the making of much larger works for exhibition, starting with a twelve-meter tall image of Don Quixote on horseback, which toured Mexico for about a year.
context_section_description: By the 1980s, the family moved to Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, a very poor city just outside of Mexico City proper, in the adjoining State of Mexico. Sotero continues the family business here and still works with his mother, and sister Lucia Lemus. The family house, which consists of various small apartments on two floors overlooking a courtyard, is located in the Jose Vicente Villada neighborhood. The workshop is a covered area on the roof.
  He has worked to improve techniques and designs but still remains based on traditional pieces, especially in the making of toys. Their molds are either from Celaya or have been made by the family to replicate them. The workshop still has molds that are almost 100 years old, collected by the family over the years.
  Sotero has distinguished his work both through his own creativity as well as expanding the family's contacts. While not abandoning the styles of the old molds, Sotero began creating updated versions, even taking classes in sculpture at the Academy of San Carlos. The improvement in the artistic value of the pieces paid off in 1987, when Sotero won first place at a handcraft competition in Celaya.
  One of Sotero's contacts is collector and cultural promoter Juan Jimenez, who backed an idea to create a monumental image of Don Quixote on horseback in 2004. Large pieces are not entirely new, but before the 2000s, they rarely went over two meters tall, with which Lemus had experience. However, this project was far more ambitious. In the end, it was twelve meters tall and had to be made in pieces to be fitted together in order to move and exhibit. It built completely with traditional materials and techniques, using 1,000 strips of reed strips, seventy kilos of wire and 200 strips of wood. No glue or nails were used to attach details such as noses or ears, only paste and wire. One aspect that was not traditional about the figure was that Don Quixote was made with Mexican features rather than European ones.(lvalos) Although neighbors initially thought the project to be silly, the figure attracted attention and was shortly invited to be exhibited at several local municipal buildings, moving onto the National Palace in Mexico City and the Festival Cervantino in Guanajuato (named after Don Quixote's author). Don Quixote eventually returned to Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl landing in the custody of the municipal government after about a year of touring and exhibition. The project's success has led to various commissions for large and monumental pieces such as an installation of a dozen golden eagles (the symbol of Mexico)  for the History Gallery of the Caracol Museum.
  Various of Lemus's works have been exhibited in venues in Mexico and have been shown and exported to Spain, France, Germany, the United States and Central America, receiving sponsorship from non-profit and governmental agencies.
  Despite the family's success, sales are not guaranteed and can fluctuate significantly. Sotero also gives classes to supplement income from sales.
caption: Monumental-sized Judas by Lemus and family being erected at the Santa Maria la Ribera cultural center for the annual Cartoneria Fair of Mexico City
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