See this giant iguana sculpture at Red Iguana 2 in Salt Lake City
While most people know Red Iguana for its famous moles and appearances on “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives,” fewer realize there’s a stunning art installation just steps away from their tables.
Tucked behind Red Iguana 2 at 866 W South Temple in Salt Lake City sits Xochitonal – a 33-foot-long, 12.5-foot-tall sculpture weighing about 1,000 pounds. Local artist Stephen Kesler took two years to build the massive lizard, crafting over 120,000 hand-sculpted tiles to celebrate 50 years of the Cardenas Family restaurants in Salt Lake City.
The Creation Process Was Pure Art and Engineering
The sculpture’s creation reads like a blend of ancient craftsmanship and modern technology. First, Kesler hand-sculpted a 1/6th scale model in clay. That was scanned into a computer to create a full-sized digital version of the iguana. Then the data were fed into a 3-D milling machine that robotically sculpted large styrofoam blocks into full-sized body parts.
Kesler then covered the whole thing in more than 600 pounds of clay. After that, he applied thousands of ceramic tiles. The final result includes 80 epoxy hand-formed spines and more than 120,000 hand-formed scales.
More Than Just Restaurant Decoration
The sculpture was given the name Xochitonal, in honor of the giant iguana that guards the entrance to the underworld in Aztec mythology. This connection to ancient mythology adds cultural depth to what could have been simple restaurant branding.
“With this sculpture, we want to make a traveler’s experience of Red Iguana and our neighborhood on the west side of Salt Lake City a truly memorable experience,” said Bill Coker in an interview with ABC 4 News.
Xochitonal sits in a carefully designed display area behind the restaurant. The adjacent, child-friendly waiting area makes a great backdrop for photos.
The sculpture represents one of the few large-scale art installations on Salt Lake City’s west side, transforming a restaurant parking area into an unexpected cultural destination. Unveiled on Halloween 2017, Xochitonal proves that impressive public art can appear in the most surprising places.
Next time you visit Red Iguana for their legendary mole, take a few extra minutes to walk around back. You’ll discover one of Utah’s most impressive – and hidden – art installations.
