In astrology, the birth chart, or the picture of the sky taken at the moment we take our first breath, is our map for selfhood, plotted with planets that incline and aspects that influence. 

The birth chart of Mario Sanchez, a Key West native son and one of the premiere folk artists of the 20th century, reveals a man born to bear beauty into the world.

Mario Sanchez was born unto us on October 7, 1908, making our man an equitable, ‘ugly thing hurt my feelings’ Libra sun with an escape artist, dream weaver Pisces moon. 

Mario, the son of a cigar factory “reader,” was born in his family’s Duval Street bodega and raised in the Key West community of Gatoville.

Symbolized by the scales and balances, Libra is the only inanimate object in the zodiac. As such, Libras require the influence and/or activation of others. In kind, and in constellation, Sanchez’s artistic career reportedly began with the persistent encouragement of his mother-in-law. 

His work details memories of Key West in the early 20th century, including long-gone buildings and businesses, funeral processions, cigar workers, dancers, peddlers, carts, kites and scenes of daily life before the island became the commercial capital it is today. 

In effect and relief, these works serve as both art and a dimensional historical record. 

Apropos of a man with a moon sign symbolized by two fish swimming in opposing directions, his first forays into art were carving marine life into and out of discarded tobacco crates.

Mario would eventually move on to “intaglios” and bas-relief sculptures made from cedar boards, the medium that made him famous. 

In astrology, Venus is the planet of wealth and worth, personal aesthetics, and romantic entanglements. 

Mario has his Venus in the ‘born to shine’ sign of Leo at 29 degrees. Known as an aneretic degree, or the degree of fate, 29-degree placements indicate intensity and urgency around themes relative to the sign and planet.  

An anaretic Venus in Leo, a sign associated with pleasure, creativity, and self-expression, suggests a deep urge to create, often and by any means necessary. We see this quality in Mario who used all manner of materials, including paper bags and children’s painting supplies, to exhume his memories and bring his visions to life. 

Leo is also the domain of the inner child, thus, it tracks that Mario’s own echoes of childhood would serve as inspiration for his work. 

Leo is the sign of the big cat, and Mario plays a subtle, practical homage to the feline by using kitty litter to create texture for his street scenes. 

In terms of his sun/moon combination, Libras are bound to and soothed by beauty, and Pisces seeks to retreat from reality, an energy expressed in Mario’s work, which recalls his memories of days gone by, invoking a simpler time through clean lines and rich colors. 

Libra is a sign preoccupied with equality and beauty. True to form, and in the form of folk art, Mario democratized fine art to make what was once aspirational and affluent both relatable and accessible.

Mario’s motto of, “‘Se que mi modesto arte no es bueno, pero gusta,’ or ‘I know my modest art isn’t good, but it pleases,’ reflects this attitude of equalization. 

Mario’s sun in Libra forms a nearly exact square with his Uranus in Capricorn. The sun is the self, and Uranus is the punk rock agent of chaos and plot twists; when these two luminaries square each other, the result is a rebellious, free-wheeling, and free-thinking type prone to go against the grain and bite a defiant thumb in the face of the status quo. 

Mario’s sun also forms an activating square with Neptune, the planet of dreams, whimsy, and altered states. This aspect is the mark of the visionary who sees things not as they are but as they dream they could be. 

 

When asked about what made him an artist, Mario told an interviewee, “The best thing is to be original. Be original. That’s my advice. Every painter has his own, just like a cook. They have their own cookbook. They do things their own way. I let it come easy, and I don’t feel that I’m great or nothing like that. I’m just Mario. That’s all.”

That’s all, and that’s everything.