Photographer Sergio Melendez
“¡Queremos Ver Sangre!” is an upcoming show of photographs from acclaimed Mexican fine art photographer Sergio Meléndez, exploring a thrilling night of gravity-defying Lucha Libre matches at Arena Mexico in Mexico City, on November 21st, 2014.
Each of the 13 archival ink prints is available in a worldwide limited edition of 13. After 13, the negative is destroyed. (13 was a sacred number in the Aztec calendar and considered bad luck by colonizing Conquistadors)
There are 2 editions of each image in a 30” x 40” Large Format and a 24” x 36” Standard Format. Each image is signed and numbered by the artist. Framing is available upon request.
For current Limited Edition Print Availability & Pricing, click the titles of the images above or email PJ@ClockJackProductions.com
EN: More than a photographic series, “¡Queremos Ver Sangre!” (“We Want To See Blood!”) represents a return to my own childhood, to that early fascination with the world of Mexican wrestling: a spectacle that merges discipline, risk, theatricality, and popular folklore. The echoes of those nights still resonate in my memory: “¡Los Rudos, Los Rudos, Los Rudos!”—chants that pierced the air and ignited the crowd. Within that collective vibration arose another cry, demanding intensity in combat: “Queremos Ver Sangre!”. It was not simply violence the audience sought, but the absolute surrender of the wrestler, their courage, and their willingness to put their body on the line in order to become a living myth.
With this series, I sought to capture the power of a cultural expression deeply rooted in Mexico: wrestling as a mirror of society, as a ritual of resilience, and as a metaphor for life itself, where every fall and every strike conceals an act of faith. The flying kicks were not just a dramatic gesture, but a form of collective release—an instant when the impossible seemed within reach. “¡Queremos Ver Sangre!” is, therefore, a tribute to that energy vibrating in the arenas, to the shared risk between gladiator and spectator, and to the popular imagination that has made Lucha Libre one of the most intense and authentic expressions of Mexican culture. —Sergio Meléndez
ES: Más que una serie fotográfica, “¡Queremos Ver Sangre!” es un regreso a mi propia infancia, a esa fascinación temprana por el universo de la lucha libre mexicana: un espectáculo que combina disciplina, riesgo, teatralidad y folclor popular. Los ecos de aquellas noches resuenan todavía en mi memoria: “¡Los Rudos, Los Rudos, Los Rudos!”, gritos que atravesaban el aire y encendían la multitud. En esa vibración colectiva surgía también el clamor por la intensidad del combate: “¡queremos ver sangre!”. No era solo violencia lo que pedía la afición, sino la entrega absoluta del luchador, su valentía y su disposición a poner el cuerpo en juego para convertirse en mito.
Con esta serie busqué capturar la fuerza de esa expresión cultural profundamente mexicana: la lucha libre como espejo de la sociedad, como ritual de resistencia y como metáfora de la vida misma, donde cada caída y cada golpe esconden un acto de fe. Las patadas voladoras no eran solo un recurso escénico, sino una forma de liberación colectiva, un instante en el que lo imposible parecía alcanzable. “¡Queremos Ver Sangre!” es entonces un homenaje a esa energía que vibra en las arenas, a ese riesgo compartido entre el gladiador y el espectador, y al imaginario popular que ha convertido a la Lucha Libre en una de las manifestaciones más intensas y auténticas de la cultura Mexicana. —Sergio Melendez