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ART BEHIND THE WALL Art, by its form and content, constitutes a medium ideal for the reflection of cultural elements with which the masses can identify. In an era where the real and the practical become necessary, this exhibition shows us different artistic creations taking us into the daily life of the creator, externalizing the conscience and awakening the individual feelings of each person. Including both emerging and recognised artists working in diverse media, the varied and nuanced concept of the exhibition’s title “Art behind the wall” is reflected in the many concepts and techniques used by artists in the show. Participating artists: Juan Alcazar, Javier Ampudia, Javier Arévalo, Jorge Barrios, Manuel Benítez, Pedro Coronel, Jorge Moedano, Luz Nieto, José Luis Ramírez, Rodrigo Ramírez, Elisa Salas, Max Sanz, Gustavo Villegas and Arturo Zapata.
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Juan Alcazar Looking the Nahual Serigraphy 18.11 x 19.68”
Javier Ampudia De la Serie “A espaldas de la noche” 2018 Oil on canvas 37.40 x 29.52” 6
Javier Arevalo Untitled Gouche on paper 21.25 x 29.52� 7
Jorge Barrios Untitled Mixed on wood 29.13 x 22.04”
Jorge Barrios Untitled Mixed on wood 22.04 x 29.13” 8
Jorge Barrios Genealogical dish Oil on canvas 37.79 x 55.51�
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Manuel Benítez Overcoming obstacules Serie Circus of the absurd 1 Acrylic on canvas 2015 16 x 20 “
Manuel Benítez News in grey 2015 31 x 23” New Light /mixed acrylic and acetate on canvas 10
Manuel Benítez Ethereal Life New Light /mixed acrylic and acetate on canvas 31 x 23 “
Manuel Benítez Juggling of the chance Series Circus of the Absurd 3 2017 11
Manuel Benítez Litht Flight 8 x 10” 2017
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Pedro Coronel Poetic Lunar Serigraphy 37.40 x 27.55”
Pedro Coronel Solar Song Serigraphy 37.40 x 27.55” 13
Pedro Coronel Duality Serigraphy 37.40 x 27.55”
Jorge Moedano Elvia Oil on wood 23,2”x 20”x 10” 14
José Luis Ramírez The dream to be horse Oil on canvas 39.37 x 47.24 “ 15
Luz Nieto Our side of the river has no wall 30 x 24” Oil on canvas
Luz Nieto Blooming Desert Oil on canvas 24 x 36” 16
Rodrigo Ramírez Untitled Acrylic and transfer on paper on wood 41.33 x 30.70” 17
Elisa Salas Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz calligram out of an Artist’s tweet Digital pen drawing on Canvas 23.62 x 23.62 “
Elisa Salas Leona Vicario calligram out of foot image Digital pen drawing on Canvas 23.62 x 19.8 “ 18
Elisa Salas Malala Yousafzai calligram out of the activist’s own words Digital pen drawing on Canvas 23.62 x 23.62 “
Elisa Salas Connect the dots secret Mixed media on canvas 63 x 55 “ 19
Max Sanz Always together Resin and Metal 48.42 x 15.74 x 11.81”
Gustavo Villegas 02.02.:50:58 Oil on canvas 39.37 x 39.37” 20
Arturo Zapata Eruption Oil on canvas 15.75 X 27.55 “
Arturo Zapata Storm Oil on canvas 15.75 X 27.55 “ 21
JUAN ALCAZÁR Born in 1955 in the state of Oaxaca, Alcázar’s prodigious artistic talent propelled him to an early career in the arts. He entered the School of Fine Arts at the Autonomous “Benito Juárez” University of Oaxaca at the age of 13 to study graphic arts with a specialty in print making. At 17 years of age he was giving classes. Later he studied in Mexico City with various prominent artists. He was, by all accounts, one of the best students of the great Oaxacan painter, Rufino Tamayo. At 27 he founded the Free Graphics Workshop of Oaxaca at the Casa de la Cultura in Oaxaca. Later he was to be the principal founder of the Rufino Tamayo Workshop for the Visual Arts. In the last decade he was the founding director of the Museum of Oaxacan Painters. In the latter 1970’s Alcázar established himself as a premier print maker. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that he turned to painting, whereupon he became a leading exponent of magical realism in Mexico. His work has been exhibited in many countries around the world, both in single person and group shows.
JAVIER AMPUDIA PACHECO He was born in Pinar del Río, Cuba, on April 7, 1985. Between 2000 and 2004 he studied at the Provincial School of Art Instructors of Pinar del Río in the specialty of Plastic Arts. Participated in “Academia 2001”, passing the courses of Drawing and Watercolor at the Academy of San Alejandro, Havana. In 2003 he passed the aptitude exams to enter the Art Academy in Minneapolis, United States. In 2006 he was professor of Drawing of the Provincial School of Art Instructors of Pinar del Río. For a period of two years (February 2010 - February 2012) he worked as an Instructor of Plastic Arts in the states of Caracas and Miranda in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Since 2002 he is a member of the Association “Hermanos Saíz” (AHS). In 2014, the National Council of Plastic Arts, the Cuban Cultural Heritage Fund and the National Registry of the Creator accepted to be a member of these institutions through exceptional authorization and based on a proposal made by the National AHS to the Ministry of Culture. As of 2014 he is accepted as a member of the AXART gallery in the city of Drummond in Quebec, Canada. In 2015 he was invited to the World of Culture to be held in that city.
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JAVIER ARÉVALO Arevalo was born on 29 April 1937 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. His grandmother was a traditional healer, whose concepts stayed with him. She tutored him and did not allow him to attend school. When he was ten years old he won first prize at a contest for children in Guadalajara and began studying drawing, painting and calligraphy with a painter named Jorge Martínez, an assistant to Orozco. In 1950 he began to draw cover illustrations for textbooks for the medical school of the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara. In 1951 he won first place in a show for young artists in Guadalajara. During 1952-54 he studied calligraphy in a specialized school in western Guadalajara. He then spent a year traveling the coasts of Jalisco and Nayarit painting landscapes, culminating with his first show, at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. In 1955 he volunteered as a teacher of calligraphy and lithography at the Academy of San Carlos. In the next years his work was shown at the Biennale de Paris, in the Municipal Gallery of Guadalajara, and at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City. Arevalo began his professional art training at the School of Arts and Letters at Guadalajara in 1957. Shortly after, he spent a year on the coasts of Nayarit and Jalisco to paint landscapes. In 1961, he went to the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas in Mexico City, where he studied mostly under Antonio Rodríguez Luna. During his studies he also gave a number of shows throughout Latin America, in Spain, and in New York City. He graduated with a degree in Classical Arts in 1963 Latin America, in Spain, and in New York City. He graduated with a degree in Classical Arts in 1963. After college, Arevalo continued to paint. His artwork has been shown throughout Latin America and in the United States, Russia, Canada, and France. These exhibitions include a 1972 show of 32 drawings at the La Nación newspaper in Costa Rica. Museums in Mexico, Switzerland, Colombia, Spain, Costa Rica, the United States, Uruguay, Japan, and Israel have acquired works of his. In 1963, he was named director of the Fine Arts section of the Escuela de Bellas Artes of the Universidad de Morelia in Michoacán. His recognitions include the 1963 Nuevos Valores Award, the 1966 National Award of Art and was accepted as a member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. His works participated in a number of competitions, winning first prize at the Tokyo Biennale in 1970, and a watercolor award at the first National Certamen of Plastic Arts. In 1993, his painting Caballero won an award at the tenth Biennial of Latin America and the Caribbean in San Juan, Costa Rica. In 1990, a retrospective of his work was held at the Palacio de Bellas Artes
JORGE BARRIOS Born in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, in the region known as the ‘Mixteca Alta.’ In 1978 he moved to Mexico City, where he studied design at the Metropolitan University and later entered the National School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving known as ‘La Esmeralda.’ From 1980 to the present, he has participated in various group exhibitions, such as most recently in Portugal, via the Poca Gallery, as part of an exhibition of postcards entitled ‘La Mar en Ti’ (‘The Sea Inside You’) (2014); as part of an exhibition at EL CASA entitled ‘One Hundred (100) artists Dialogue with Posada’ (2013) in San Agustín, Etla, Oaxaca; in the south of France at the Olivier Gallery, Barrios also participated in a group exhibition entitled ‘Recuerdos Para Iluminar’ (‘Memories to Illuminate’) (2016). Barrios was also selected to participate in a group exhibit about Latin American art in Las Vegas, Nevada (2016). 23
. Barrios also received a grant from the State Fund for Art and Culture of Tlaxcala (‘FOECAT’) in 2003 in connection with an exhibition entitled ‘Creators and Interpreters on a Trajectory,’ in Tlaxcala, Mexico. He was the first (1st) place winner of the “3rd. Painting Contest Tlaxcala 2001.” He also won the “Acquisition Prize” as part of the national contest entitled ‘Una Interpretación Moderna del Quijote,’ (‘A Modern Interpretation of Quijote’) at the National Print Competition via the National Museum of the Estampa, Mexico City. Barrios has also received Honorable Mentions such as; First Graphic Exhibition entitled ‘U. V. and D.’ at the Carrillo Gil Museum, National Institute of Beaux Arts (‘INBA’). 1st. Miniestampa Annual Show, National Museum of the Estampa. INBA / IX National Encounter of Young Art Carrillo Gil Museum, INBA. Throughout his career, Barrios has been showcased in important solo exhibitions, among them; ‘Irrelevant Dreams’ at Casa de la Nube Gallery (2013); ‘Sédiments of Mémory’ at the Galerie Art & Planéte, Paris, France (2010); Pensée Sauvage. rencontre avec Jean - Claude Carriére - Librairie le Merle Moqueur (2010); ‘Amulets. Art & Planete’ Gallery Paris, France (2009); ‘Langage du corps’ at the Galerie Art & Planéte, Paris, France (2006); ‘The Age of the Forest,’ Museum of Art of Tlaxcala, Mexico (2005); ‘Territorios del Sueño,’ Mexicanos Art Gallery, Mexico City (2000); ‘Roots,’ Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Mexico (2003); ‘Labyrinths of Light,’ Museum of Memory, in Tlaxcala, Mexico (2002); ‘Passages,’ Mexican Gallery, Mexico City (1997); ‘On the Wings of Memory,” at I. T. C., Tlaxcala, Mexico (1996); ‘Landscapes of Voices,’ Mexicanos Art Gallery Mexico City (1992); and ‘Landscapes Spelled,’ at the José María Velasco Gallery, Mexico City (1991).
MANUEL BENÍTEZ Mexican Visual Artist, Teacher, Painter, Muralist, Sculptor, Poet, and Narrator, born in Ixtlán del Río, Nayarit, México. His work has been exhibited in Mexico, the United States and Europe, forming part of important public and private collections. Some of his most emblematic creations are: Series of murals, Huichol’s Magic World, in Mexico City; Mural Ixtlán Bicentennial, in the House of Culture of Ixtlán del Río; Mural Heroic Youth, in Juan Escutia Museum House, Tepic, Nayarit; Mural Dialogue of Knowledges in the Interactive Museum of Sciences, Tepic, Nayarit; Mural Magic Jala, at the Ricardo Flores Magón Technological Institute in Jala, Nayarit, Mexico; Mural Fiesta Mexicana, in Lynwood, California, with itinerant tour through various cultural, educational, and public spaces of the United States. Arts Winner of Honor able Mention in National Competition Emilia Ortiz (1991); State Competition Aramara of Visual Arts (1993); Scholar of the State Fund for Culture and the Arts of Nayarit (2001); Honorable Mention in the Adolfo Riestra State Sculpture Contest (2003); Featured Latin Artist of Mijares Gallery (2003); State Painting Prize, Emilia Ortiz (2006); Annual Recognition of the Rotary Club Paradise (2009); Itztlán Medal, for artistic and cultural merit, awarded by the Municipality of Ixtlán del Río (2010); Nayaritan Painter and Muralist of the Year (FENINE-USA / Governor of the State of Nayarit 2015). He exhibited at the General Consulate of Mexico in Los Angeles, California: in his Raúl Anguiano Gallery (2003); Nayaritan Collect The Two Borders at Gallery Grandeza Mexicana (2005) and Retrospective Exhibition at Sala Rafael de La Colina, (2015). 24
On October 24, 2015 he announces his proclamation New Light by Benítez, in Hollywood Forever (16th Annual Day of the Dead - Shamanic Visions of the Huichol). ChimMaya Art Gallery Exhibition (2015); The Portal-Pasadena (2015); EnAmorArte, MCAU Art Gallery (2016); ALL MEXICO, representing Nayarit (2016); Day of the Dead 2016 - Tribute to Juan Gabriel, Plaza La Raza and Department of Cultural Affairs of Los Angeles; El Velorio Collective (2016); Collective Painters and Friends of the New Light at New Light Art Gallery and Art Nouvelle Lumière; El Rancho Pico Rivera Cultural Foundation (2017); Special participation in the 10th Annual Exhibition of Artists with Disabilities (2017) and 11th Annual Exhibition of Artists with Disabilities (2018) in the City Hall of Los Angeles as Mentor of the Academy of Special Dreams; International Forum of the Foundation for the Human Rights of Migrants in California (FUNDEHMIC (2018), Unconditional Love Bazaar of New Light Art Gallery in support of the Academy of Special Dreams (2018), Frida Tribute, International Exhibition by invitation (2019) . His current work seeks to rescue endearing images of the past that persist and take on new meaning, by confronting them with the space of present experience. As a Writer, Poet, and Narrator has won several national and state contests in poetry and floral games; receiving multiple recognitions; he has published poems and novels; his work is part of important compilations of authors, highlighting The crystalline surface of silence: Sample of the Floral Games of Zapotlán el Grande, sharing honors with the Jalisciense Juan José Arreola. During three consecutive years, he has been selected to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books with: Amber’s Moon, Paradoxes of Creativity, and El Sueño del Mago. Maestro Manuel Benítez has an extensive career as a Cultural Promoter and mentor of winning film projects from multiple film festivals.
PEDRO CORONEL Was born on March 25, 1922 in Jerez, Zacatecas, in a family of upper middle class. His mother played the violin and his father the clarinet and the violin. On Sundays they gathered and played folk music. The youngest of his brothers and sisters, Rafael, became a well-known painter of Moors, monks and elders. Pedro was a restless, dreamer and very rebellious child. He did not like school, he often skipped classes that took twelve years to complete his primary education. Instead, he preferred to go to the quarry and watch the workers take pieces of stone from the mountain. As a child, I collected tops, marbles and puppets. This hobby would later become a large collection of art from various parts of the world. His interest in art led him to study at the National School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving “La Esmeralda” when he was only thirteen, when the school had teachers like Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, Frida Kahlo and Francisco Zúñiga. Colonel forged friendships with Rivera, Zuñiga and Santos Balmori. He began studying sculpture, but the influence of Santos Balmori encouraged him to paint. This led him to appreciate the uses of color. At the beginning of his artistic career, he visited Paris in 1946, and decided to turn it into his second home in the late 1940s until the 1950s. He divided half into Paris and half into Mexico City. In the 1960s, he was a professor at La Esmeralda, residing mainly in Mexico but traveling frequently to Europe, Asia and the United States. During this time, he also worked with Mathias Goeritz, Rufino Tamayo and Pedro Friedeberg at the Camino Real Hotel in Mexico City. 25
Coronel has been characterized by having a strong personality and, sometimes, violent, in addition to giving brusque answers. However, it has also been characterized for being honest and fair. He said that “he who does not cry, he who does not tremble, has no right to live”. It refers to “life” in the sense of feeling. He said he feared death just because he would end his painting. He was briefly married to Amparo Dávila, a Mexican writer, but his longterm relationship of eighteen years was with his second wife, Réjane Lalonde. Throughout his life, he accumulated a large collection of pre-Hispanic, African, Asian, Greco-Roman and medieval art, along with graphic art, with more than 1,800 pieces from different places and times, including Roman, Egyptian and Chinese works, as well as art and crafts. From Africa, the Mexican colonial period and works by Goya, Picasso, Miró and Chagall. This collection was exhibited shortly before the death of Coronel and the reaction of the public led him to donate it to the Mexican people and, since 1986, it has been part of the permanent collection of a museum that bears his name in Zacatecas . Coronel died on May 23, 1985 in Mexico City. In 1986, his remains were moved to Zacatecas according to his will, now in the Pedro Coronel Museum.
JORGE MOEDANO Jorge Moedano is a Mexican artist who explores oil painting in unconventional surfaces, such as convex, concave and irregular woods and metals. His fragmented painting style wakes an optical experience in reference to perception, time and space.Drownings and fires are portrayed as classical ambients to his work where the main themes are the extremes of calmness and disasters. Jorge Moedano works with techniques and values like shades and light from within the depths of silence. Constantly experimenting with the nature of movement in tridimensional perspectives, where silence comes from tempest, rather than calmness. Currently, Jorge Moedano continues experimenting with a tridimensional effect, where he evoques a locomotion realistic effect.
LUZ NIETO Mexican Visual Artist and Actress, born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, México. Most of Luz’s paintings are part of private collections in the United States, several cities in Europe, and China. Since childhood she admires the shapes and colors of nature in her surroundings; thus, her main purpose is to capture accuracy of natural coloring in her artwork. She was capable of a parallel development into the visual and performing arts. After getting marriage to Carlos Nieto, a well-known Mexican actor, director, and founder of the Los Angeles Drama School, she became instrumental with her artistic skills for the successful scenography of the plays; thus enhancing her ability to define her unique painting style. The couple engaged in several journeys to Europe and the Far East to get a close view of the grand masters’ art work, which considerably increased Luz’s desires of painting.
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Her mentor Ofelia Godinez, led Luz in the path of intricate and special details of light and color. Since 1990 the art work of Luz has won several honorable mentions and awards in Southern California, but three top awards obtained with the City of Montebello, California encouraged her to continue an everlasting search into the depths of the artistic visual expression: First Place with La Flor de Alcatraz, for her special way of surrendering the unique elegance of the calla lily flower. Second Place in floral category with The Lotus Flower. Third Place in the category of miscellaneous themes with her painting The Poppy Fields. Despite being very active in several art exhibits of Southern California and Baja California, México, she decided to take a sabbatical period to provide quality care to her elder and ill husband. From 2016 she resumes her artistic agenda, participating at the Art Walks of Highland Park, promoted by Councilman José Huizar of District 14 in the City of Los Angeles, California, in partnership with New Light Art Gallery and the support of Jesse Muro. From June 10th through July 31st 2017, she was part of the collective exhibition Painters and Friends of the New Light at New Light Art Gallery of Hacienda Heights. From December 2nd 2017 through February 3rd 2018, she presented her solo exhibit Luz Nieto and her pictorial glam at New Light Art Gallery of Hacienda Heights. From February 9th 2018 through February 28th 2018, was part of the collective Unconditional Love Bazaar at New Light Art Gallery of Hacienda Heights. In March 31st 2019 she exhibited at the Women’s Expo Culture and Art of Encuentro Latino Art Gallery at Plaza Mexico.
JOSÉ LUIS RAMÍREZ Was born in Durango, Durango, México on 31 July 1981. He graduated from Escuela de Pintura, Escultura y Artesanías ( School of Painting, Sculpture and Handicrafts) of Universidad de Juárez del Estado de Durango (EPEAUJED). His artwork has been exposure in various countries, such as México, USA, Canada, Argentina, Colombia, Italy and Finland, with more than 20 individual exhibitions and 38 collective exhibitions, the most recents: “ Hallazgos en tonos azules “ in Arte - Actual Mexicano Gallery in Monterrey, Mx (2018 ), “Nuevas Narrativas Pintura Contemporánea Mexicana” (New narratives contemporary mexican painting) in the municipal Gallery Rosario - Sánchez de Lozada in Querétaro , Mx ( 2018), “ Distopia” in Centro Estatal de las Artes in Ensenada, MX ( 2018 ) and Feria Internacional Barcú Arte y Cultura en Bogotá , Col (2017). Some of his arteworks are part of various collections, such as : “Pago en especias” , “Acervo Cultural”, “Colección Grupo Milenio Multimedios”, ONU, Nueva York. 27
RODRIGO RAMÍREZ RODRÍDUEZ He was born on June 9, 1988 in the Federal District. Between 2007/2011 he studied Visual Arts in “La Esmeralda”. Parallel to the school, he worked in the German Venegas workshop with which he also took drawing and painting classes. From his interest in philosophy, he took courses in film philosophy at the Film Library of the UNAM with Dr. Sonia Rangel. He is currently pursuing a Master’s in Visual Arts at the UNAM. He has exhibited in places such as the British American Museum, the Sebastian Foundation in the Federal District, the City Museum in Querétaro, the Vasconcelos Library, the Libertad Gallery for the Julio Castillo Painting Competition 2015 and the Manuel Felguérez Museum. He recently carried out the residence of Zona_seis in the Galería Luis Adelantado in which the curator Guillermo Santamarina participated for the selection and the production process. At the end of the residency period, he was part of the collective exhibition Historias de la Materia, which was held in the same gallery. He has participated in the Zona Maco Mexico fair. He has obtained the FONCA scholarship for Young Creators on two occasions, 2012 and 2016 respectively. It has been reviewed in some publications by collective exhibitions such as the supplement of Art in the weekly Proceso by Blanca Gonzales. Or in the newspaper Reforma. He recently made an individual exhibition at the Galería Luis Adelantado entitled La imagen absente. His painting tries, from the poetic and the plastic manipulation of the images, to access an experience of the world in which the media and the effective communication and domination mechanisms lose effectiveness.
ELISA SALAS Mexican Visual Artist, Calligramist, Sculptor, Writer, Poet, and Philosopher, born in Mexico City. The precocious artist has been inspired by diverse muses from classical marble sculpture, which she practiced at the Fine Arts Academy of Carrara, to digital art. She has ventured into painting, chant and drawing and has published 2 novels; The first that she wrote at age 12 and the second at age 18. Her trajectory of exhibitions include a National and International nature as in The New York City Poetry Festival 2017, Dacia Gallery in Manhattan, Art Fusion Galleries Miami during Art Basel 2016, The Hyller Art Space in Washington D.C, The Fundidora Park in Monterrey, The House of Culture of B.C.S. La Paz, the Clock Tower Gallery in Polanco, Santa Fe’s Expo Bancomer, The Pedro Infante Museum, The Women’s Museum in Mexico city’s downtown, The Tequila and Mezcal Museum in Garibaldi, the Galician Center, the White House Gallery in Lincoln Park And The Ambrosia Art Saloon, The Museum of Broken Relationships of Hollywood, among others. Sensitive about the needs of her society, the artist has donated work to support people with disabilities and was interviewed about her activism to change the electoral manual so that disabled people could vote in Mexico. The coverage by Political Animal Press where she was interviewed won The National Faces of Discrimination Award 2014 granted by the International Commission of Human Rights Mexico City and United Nations Organization in Mexico, among others. The artist frequently wins contests on the subject of philosophy, poetry and drawing (Ambassadors Scribe ® 2014). Her way of thinking has been enriched by philosophical courses such as Futurist Archeology of the Audiovisual Arts and other sociology and art history natured. As a teenager she was disciple of the Tuscan sculptor Piero Marchetti, student of the plastic artist Pablo Szmulewicz and one of the youngest students of the SOGEM Mexico’s Writer’s School of Literary Composition. The poet’s greatest fascination in life comes down to narrative and drawing. That is why she came up with a way to live both through a calligram technique. 28
MAX SANZ
Was born in Ixtlán Oaxaca, México in 1992. Graduated from High school of arts and humanities CEDART “Miguel Cabrera”, June 2010. Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Bauhaus University of Puebla, 2012 – 2016 Exhibition Selection: 2016 – Pictorial exhibition “The sea of lovers”, presented at Casa Mexic, Barcelona, supported by the Mexican Consulate in Barcelona and the Secretariat of Arts and Cultures of Oaxaca. 2017 – Pictorial exhibition “Turner Landscapes”, presented in Casa Mexic, Barcelona. 2017 – Pictorial exhibition “Mexican toys”, presented at Cultural Center Santa Isabel, Zaragoza, Spain, with the support of the Mexican Consulate in Barcelona. 2018 – Pictorial exhibition “Mexican toys”, organized by the Youth Council of the Government of Zaragoza, Spain, and presented in the Young Art Hall Antonio Saura. 2018 – Pictorial exhibition “Pirotecnia” presented at the Municipal Palace of the Honorable City Council of Oaxaca de Juárez. Collections: Philately Museum of Oaxaca and Alfredo Harp Helu Foundation · Universitario Bauhaus – Art School, Puebla, Mexico · Casa Mexic – Barcelona · Mexican Consulate in Barcelona · Pepita Serrano Collection. Among the most importan acknowledgments are: Winner of the scholarship of the Secretariat of Culture and Arts of Oaxaca and CONACULTA, in the category of artistic and cultural professionalization. In 2012, 2013, and 2015. Recognition and award from the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District, for the contribution to the Mexican plastic arts. 2017 – Recognition by the City Council of Aragon, Spain for the exhibition “Mexican Toys”, presented at the Santa Isabel Cultural Center. Conferences: Guest by the Secretariat of Arts and Cultures of Oaxaca to give the conference “The dichotomy of the modern to the contemporary” inside the Youth festival in art, Oaxaca city · “Seminar Marketing in art”, taught at the Museum of Oaxacan Painters · Guest by the Santa Isabel Cultural Center to give a presentation of “Marketing in art”, in the city of Zaragoza, Spain. Public function Chief of the Department of Cultural Information, at the Secretariat of Cultures and Arts of Oaxaca · Institutional link of the Secretariat of Cultures and Arts of Oaxaca with IMCINE for the projects: Mexican Cinema in your city, Cinema Mexico and Polos Audiovisuales.
GUSTAVO VILLEGAS He is an artist that has been dedicating his work in expanding the plastic limits of the realistic painting. Throughout his career he has received various national and international stimuli and recognitions, such as the Member of the National System for Creators Grant, CONACULTA-FONCA, Mexico City (2013-2015); the Young Creators Grant FONCA, Mexico City (2010-2011) and the Creators with Experience-PECDA Grant, Querétaro Institute for Culture and the Arts, Querétaro, Mexico (2012-2013). He has also been selected to participate in different international artistic residencies: “Artists in Residence airMontreux”, Montreux, Switzerland (2018), “Millay Colony for the Arts Residency Program”, New York, USA (2014), “The Why Not Place”, Religare Art Residency Program, New Delhi, India (2011), “Djerassi Resident Artists Program”, California, USA (2010) and “Artist in Residency Program, FONCA- Banff Centre,” Alberta, 29
In Mexico, his work has been awarded with “First Prize, José and Tomás Chávez Morado West-Central Painting Award”, Regional Fund for Culture and the Arts of the West-Central Area, Guanajuato (2016), “People’s Choice Award, 11th Monterrey FEMSA Biennial”, Monterrey, Mexico (2014), Honorable mention, “Miradas 6th Nacional Visual Arts Biennial”, Tijuana Cultural Center, Tijuana, Mexico (2014), the Acquisition Prize , “Artemergente, Monterrey 2006 National Biennial”, Monterrey, Mexico (2006) and the First Prize in the “Julio Castillo National Painting Biennial”, Libertad Gallery, Querétaro, Mexico (2008). Also, his works have been selected to participate in “The Future Is Unwritten”, Luciano Benetton Collection, Venice, Italy (2015); “CUADRO Guide and Emerging Artists Salon”, Mexico City (2009-2010); “Emerging Contemporary Arts Fair (FACE) ”, Mexico City (2007); 2007-2008 Edition of the book-catalog mART Emerging Artist for New Collectors. His work has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions, in Mexico, India, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Argentina and New York.
ARTURO ZAPATA Mexico City, Mexico, 1951. Zapata studied at the National School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving known as ‘La Esmeralda’ of the National Institute of Beaux Arts (‘INBA’). He has participated in numerous group shows in Mexico, the United States and Europe. He presented his first solo exhibition at twenty-five (25) years of age and since then his series ‘Zoomorphologies’ have stood out in the Salon de la Plastica Mexicana in Mexico City (1992); Contemporary codex Tepeyac, twelve (12) works dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe and its sanctuary in La Villa, Mexico City (1995); ‘Retrospective,’ at the Technological University of the State of Mexico (1995); Arturo Zapata, paintings, at the Casa Jaime Sabines of Mexico City (1996); recent work, in the Valparaíso Foundation, in Almeria, Spain (1998); the representation of sentiment, in the Secretariat of Metropolitan Development, in the State of Mexico (2002); Arturo Zapata paintings, in the House of Culture of Azcapotzalco, in Mexico City (2003); and the retrospective ‘Arturo Zapata, Painting, Drawing and Print,’ at the Aldama Fine Art (2008). Furthermore, Zapata has dabbled in the field of art-object and his projects in drawing are remarkable. His work in print is prolific and through it he has achieved important recognitions, e.g., as the First Place in the Second (2nd) Mini-Stamping Room of the National Museum of La Estampa (1989). It is, however, via his pictorial work that he seeks with greater eagerness to vindicate Mexican values, using the iconographic baggage of the national culture. After his recent retrospective at the Aldama Fine Art and after three (3) decades of incessant work, Zapata has returned to teaching, with sporadic projects of print and painting. He is currently working on a new series of paintings that he will present at the Aldama Fine Art in the
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