:: Originally Posted on HolaCultura.com, by Airica Thomas, Kristin Thompson and John Levandofsky, with photos by Edgar Gaona. Additional editing for Electric Llama by Antonio “Mina” Hernandez.

It was hailed as the world’s longest mural when it was completed in 1960

It was hailed as the world’s longest mural when it was completed in 1960 in the underground passageway connecting the Organization of the America’s (OAS) administrative building and main building. Commissioned to represent the Organization’s ideals, Páez drew on many sources of inspiration for the work that symbolizes peace between all the peoples of the Americas. It displays the vibrant colors to the abstract expressionism that helped defined the internationally renown painter’s work.

Born in 1923 in Monetvideo, Uruguay, Carlos Páez Vilaró was an abstract artist, a painter, potter, sculptor, muralist, writer, composer and constructor.  A Jack-of-all-trades, Vilaró lived in Europe as a young artist, finding inspiration in the modern art revolution underway at the time. From the early 20th century until the 1960s, the European avant-garde aesthetic significantly influenced the Latin American modern art movement, as seen In Páez’ work which included abstract shapes reminiscent of the cubism of his friend Picasso.

However, Páez also took influences from pre-Columbian and African art, evident in the mural’s flat two-dimensional faces shown only in profile, similar to the imagery found in Aztec temples and Egyptian hieroglyphics. The sharp edges of the two-dimensional faces that look up and down, forward and backward, seem to reference both Picasso and the African art he studied in Senegal.

The sharp edges of the two-dimensional faces that look up and down, forward and backward, seem to reference both Picasso and the African art he studied in Senegal.

“Roots of Peace” helped launch his career when it opened to much fanfare more than half a century ago. Páez went on to paint other murals all over the world including, Argentina, Brazil, Chad, Chile, Gabon, the Polynesians Islands, and his native Uruguay, where Carlos Páez Vilaró passed away one year ago today, on February 24th, 2014 in his Casapueblo home, in Punta Ballena, Maldonado, Uruguay.

“Roots of Peace” flows through ten themes including cooperation and combating racism, the preservation of culture and its peaceful exchange. These themes are expressed in faces, shapes, animals, and symbols that can be found in the mural, and are supposed to symbolize the cultural unity of the Americas as well as the acceptance of their differences. He creatively made use of the tunnel by utilizing pipes and vents on the wall. Some symbols reappear throughout the mural. One is the fish, for instance, which represents unity and the road towards peace, according to Adriana Ospina, a curator at the Art Museum of the Americas, which is housed in the same Constitution Avenue compound as the OAS main building.

The tunnel is not frequently used, so the mural is seen by few people beyond the occasional OAS staffer

Unfortunately, the tunnel is not frequently used, so few people beyond the occasional OAS staffer have seen the mural. Moreover, the passage of time and the narrow space of the tunnel, in combination with the fickle nature of plumbing, has damaged the artwork. Leaky pipes have left water damage in some places, blurring the paint. In a couple of spots, the plaster has fallen off the wall completely due to excess moisture.

It’s been restored twice since it was originally painted. The most recent overhaul was in 2001 but keeping up with repairs is challenging for the museum, which has one of the foremost collections of Latin American art in the United States but limited funds for essential upkeep and restoration work, according to museum officials.

:: Thanks to Hola Cultura for sharing! To see more on D.C.’s hidden masterpieces, see Hola Cultura’s Murals Map!