The Sculpture Garden of Edward James.

The Sculpture Garden of Edward James, “Las Pozas” was created by Edward James, poet and artist, also known as the great patron of the surrealist movement. By surrealism we understand the literary and artistic movement, which arose in Europe in 1918, and which, affirms that the world of dreams and unconsciousness are fountains of inspiration and creation. André Breton defines the first surrealistic manifest as, “dictates of thought, without regulatory reason and devoid of worry concerning style and moral.” Nestled in the Huasteca Potosina in Mexico, Edward James found the perfect setting to create his masterpiece. Among natural and artificial pools and waterfalls the visitor is amazed to enter into a dream world next to the surrealistic labyrinth it unfolds. Buildings that evoke fantasy, doors that open up to nothing, stairs that lead to the sky, and concrete flowers that grow along with natural ones inhabit this garden located in Xilitla. The architecture of the Sculpture Garden represents an architectonical surrealistic group of buildings inspired in both orchids and local flowers found in the vegetation of the Huasteca Potosina turning into a fusion of organic and artificial forms, a mixture between jungle and concrete, thus achieving a two marvellous worlds in one. The origin of the Sculpture Garden goes back to 1947 when Edward James (who lived in a form of exile in the United States) purchased a coffee plantation near Xilitla, San Luis Potosi, and registered it under the name of Plutarco Gastelum, his close friend. Together, they created the Sculpture Garden in Las Pozas. During the first years, James kept Las Pozas as a plantation for his fabulous orchid collection and as a home for his different animal species (deer, ocelots, snakes, flamingos and other birds). In 1962, after an unprecedent frost which destroyed a large portion of his plantation, he began the construction of the concrete garden we know today. More than 150 local people worked on the project including, carpenters, bricklayers and gardeners. The construction was halted in 1984, year in which James passed away.  It was not until 1991 that the doors of the garden were opened to the public.