Big cat prowls wall of historic Pilsen building in sprawling new mural

Some may remember when a real-live cougar wandered Chicago, until it was shot and killed by police in 2008.

Another big cat was recently captured in Pilsen — though in a decidedly non-threatening way through paint on a wall. The colorful mural appears on the side of an apartment building at 21st and Paulina streets.

Titled “Tecuani,” the artwork was finished last month by Little Village-raised artist Miguel Del Real and the Mexico-born artist who goes by Diske Uno.

“Tecuani” is an indigenous word in Mexico meaning “the one who eats people.” It often refers to a jaguar, known as a fearsome predator but also a symbol of divinity in ancient times.

Robert Herguth / Sun-Times

The painting is a nod to “La Danza de los Tecuanes,” a dance that dates to pre-colonial era Mexico and is still performed on certain holidays, featuring costumed dancers in a symbolic hunt for the big cat.

The performers “dress up in different costumes such as skulls, birds, devils, farmers and a jaguar in a performance to depict the struggle to survive and scare away dangers that would threaten their families,” Del Real says. “The greatest of the dangers was the jaguar . . . which was given divine attributes.”

Del Real, who lives in Pilsen, says, “In this mural Diske painted the Tecuani dancer sitting or resting as it is interconnected with earth, and vines wrap around his body as it holds a flower to feed a hummingbird, which is a symbol for love, healing and creativity.”

Robert Herguth / Sun-Times

“I painted the jaguar spirit as it emanates from the dancer depicting the essence that the dancer tries to embody while in character. The monarch butterfly symbolizes the constant evolution, migration and transformation of the people.”

“Diske painted the dancer with acrylic paint assisted by his wife, Mafer, following a traditional approach, while I used a combination of both acrylic and spray paint.”

The building, which dates to the 1800s, has other artistic elements, including another mural further north on the structure, and a limestone horse’s head protruding from a wall. That apparently dates to the time the building served as a horse barn for a nearby firehouse. At least part of the building also was a funeral home for a time.

Robert Herguth / Sun-Times

Del Real says the idea for his mural dates back a few years when the building’s owner, Michael Kelley, spotted him and his father touching up a mural of the Virgin Mary that Del Real had done a few blocks away at Wood and Cullerton streets.

Kelley says he was so impressed, he asked whether Del Real would be interested in painting something on his building.

Del Real says he wasn’t able to do a mural at the time but circled back to Kelley last year and the building owner was all in.

The finished product — roughly 18 feet tall and 36 feet long — “was incredible, I was totally blown away by how it turned out,” Kelley says.