Carlos Rosales-Silva

For this mural commission, the El Paso–born artist, Carlos Rosales-Silva represents Memphis, past and present, through varied iconography. The mural highlights the city’s overlapping histories and the dynamic interplay of nature and culture. As suggested by its title, which is Spanish for “soul of the river,” a stylized Mississippi River features across the mural’s three walls. Rendered as a pattern of rich blue and earthy red zigzags, the river snakes around the building in a unifying representation of the “pulse of the city.” The mural includes motifs designed by the artist that speak to the city and region: sassafras leaves, the iconic roofline of Rust Hall in Overton Park, Mississippian ceremonial mounds, and Issac Hayes’s legendary desk at Stax Records. In invoking these symbols of human creativity and achievement, Rosales-Silva’s mural highlights complex cultures borne from the same place.

Carlos Rosales-Silva: Alma del rio is curated by Patricia Lee Daigle, Ph.D., Chief Curator.