Born in rural Mexico, in 1934, Leopoldo Flores stood out as an art talent at a young age. He studied art on scholarship at La Esmeralda, the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado and in Paris. His travel abroad led to an introduction to various art influences and allowed him to begin exhibiting in Europe. Upon returning to Mexico, Flores focused primarily on monumental works in stained glass as well as "land art". The land art, especially, reminds me of Christo's work: draped canvases over buildings (Flores painted murals on his canvases), land alterations on a theme, etc.
Perhaps his greatest project is the stained glass of Cosmovitral Botanical Gardens in Toluca. The gardens are housed in an old market dating back to the Porfirio Diaz regime and over 60 artisans worked with Flores to create a stunning masterpiece on the theme of opposing day and night, man and woman, and good and bad. It was constructed of 48 panels, and consumed 75 tons of metal substructure, 45 tons of blown glass, with 25 tons of lead solder. The result is spectacular!
Leopoldo Flores died on April 3, 2016, with Parkinson's disease.
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