Panamanian bus artists persist despite diablos rojos' decline

Monchi Hormi at work

Monchi: “First and above all the rest”
article and photos by Peter Szok

Since the mid-1990s, accidents, public uproar, and growing regulation have diminished the presence of Panama’s famous diablos rojos. The “red devils” are old school buses which are imported from the United States and which are fantastically refashioned to provide public transportation in urban areas. For decades, they have roared through the streets of Colon and Panama City and have competed for passengers with their spectacular portraits of actors, singers, athletes, and other celebrities, along with their landscapes of idealized and exotic scenery, with their horns, screeching breaks, whistles, and thumping music, and with their tendency for speed and reckless maneuvering. As the small businessmen, who traditionally have controlled this sector, have faced the growing certainty of their replacement by a metro or another form of mass transit, they have been less willing to spend the hundreds of dollars required to hire artists and adorn their vehicles.

Barbershop decorated by Rubén “Chinoman” Lince

Creativity, however, is irrepressible among the working-class painters who have dedicated themselves to this profession and who revealingly compare their vocation to boxing and who attempt, in one’s words, to “kill each other with beauty.” Among them, Rubén “Chinoman” Lince (1969-) has begun to focus his attention on barbershops and has embellished dozens of hair salons in the Colon and the capital with the familiar showy imagery. In La Chorrera, David Ernesto Rodríguez (1967-) uses his free time to create miniature red devils which are marvelously exact in their bombastic details and which are regularly exhibited in parades and local festivals.

Miniature art by David Ernesto Rodríguez

Nearby, Ramón Enrique “Monchi” Hormi (1947-) has even emblazoned the exterior of his house with a mural reflective of the red devil tradition. The painting, which includes a long passage from the Bible, features a cabin in the Alpine wilderness. Its crystal stream and foliage ignite the panorama and serve to capture the attention of the viewer. Panamanian popular art is tenacious and brassy, and if the life stories of Monchi and his colleagues are indicative, it will likely continue into the future, despite all of the recent difficulties.

Monchi's homage to a national hero

Monchi is the son of a Colombian welder who immigrated to Panama during the Second World War, seeking employment on the many infrastructure projects which the United States had launched to defend the interoceanic route. The family eventually moved to La Chorrera, where the young Monchi fell under the influence of Teodoro de Jesús Villarué (1926-), who had arrived there to work with the Panamanian highway commission and who began to paint buses in his spare time. Villarué or “Yoyo” took Monchi under his tutelage and encouraged him to follow him into the business. Monchi agreed despite his lack of formal training and his parents’ dire economic circumstances. To pay for his materials, Monchi delivered water to poor neighborhoods, and he sharpened his skills by doodling obsessively in schoolbooks. In the mid-1960s, he began decorating red devils, first in Panama City and then in La Chorrera, where he was determined to dominate the transportation system and become the leading artist in Panama Oeste, the area which stretches westward from the canal and continues roughly to the town of Capira. “The buses there once said, ‘Yoyo, Yoyo, Yoyo,’” he recalls. “I wanted them all to read ‘Monchi, Monchi, Monchi!” In interviews, Monchi exhibits his characteristic swagger, his disdain for his competitors and his sense of humor. He refers to younger painters essentially as “imitators” while emphasizing his own talent and ingenuity. “Many of these muchachos have tried to copy me,” he recalls in a joking manner, “but I am the first and above all the rest.” From the 1970s to the early 90s, Monchi came to realize his ambitions. By then, Yoyo had returned to the capital, and lines of buses parked outside Monchi’s residence, waiting to be attended to by the now recognized master.

Monchi's take on a younger national hero

Today, as the red devil market continues to deteriorate, Monchi no longer devotes himself exclusively to the vehicles, but instead tends to concentrate on canvas pieces. The canvases represent a different medium; however, many of them are infused with the red devils’ aesthetics, especially their propensity to utilize aspects of the mass media and to transform these icons with a sense of rhythm and spectacle. One work uses a photo of Roberto Durán, presenting the fighter in brilliant colors and with his giant fists positioned teasingly at the viewer. Another image depicts Irving Saladino, Panama’s Olympic and World Champion long jumper. Saladino stands triumphantly, much like a red devil, with the national flag slung around his shoulders. Monchi encourages visitors to stop by his La Chorrera home to see these and other examples of his painting. The red devil buses have fallen into decline; however, their panache and style persist in multiple forms.

Bus art by Calvin Alvarez Espinosa

culture