Arturo Lemus Beltran

Happy Birthday Arturo Lemus Beltran!!

Born on January 14, 1978, Beltran did not develop an interest in art until he worked at the cultural center in Ixtapaluca. Ater some painting experience there he began a program of studies at Casa Lamm Cultural Center on scholarship. His work concentrates on painting and cartoneria (paper mache).

Not only does he exhibit his work in Mexico, the US and Canada, he is also very involved in cultural and civic endeavors in promoting art. Much of his concentration has been with Japanese, Israeli and South African service associations, as evidenced with the picture below with his painting at the Fabrica de Artes Oficios Oriente.

Roberto Cortazar

Happy Birthday Roberto Cortazar!

Actually born yesterday, in 1962, Roberto Cortazar is a contemporary Mexican painter. After finishing his studies, Cortazar contributed to many intellectual institutions with lectures, conferences, seminars, etc. His work has been exhibited all over Mexico and he has participated in many Art Fairs in the US, Latin America and Europe.

One well known endeavor is the reconstruction of Goya's Saturn Devouring Her Children, which depicts Saturn destroying his children to prevent them from usurping his power. Cortazar's rendition,"Saturn and the Parricides",  has been displayed throughout Mexico at various museums. I am including a version of that theme Saturno Devorando a los Tiranicidas, painted in 2005, below.

Another accomplishment is his interpretation of a painting by the great muralist José Clemente Orozco, He was the first artist to be offered this honor in 2009.

Alfredo Zalce

Happy Birthday Alfredo Zalce!

Muralist Alfredo Zalce was born today in 1908, in Michoacan and began drawing at a very early age.  In addition to mural painting, he was also known for painting, sculpting and engraving. Zalce is said to be the frist artist to use colored cement in his mural work. Working at the same time as other muralists such as Diego Rivera, he too infused his work with social and political commentary.

In addition to his own art, Zalce also was quite involved in teaching and in fact founded several schools, illustrated books and in his organization Liga_de_Escritores_y_Artistas_Revolucionarios, was politically motivated to come out against Adolf Hitler.

I love the serene mood depicted in the detail from the mural "Gente y paisaje de Michoacán" (1962) pictured below.

Pedro Friedeberg

Happy Birthday Pedro Friedeberg!

Born today in Florence, Italy, Pedro Friedeberg, being of German Jewish descent, arrived in Mexico with his parents when he was three years old. His childhood was tumultous, filled with rules and discipline he prefers not to discuss. But he did show an interest at an early age in art and drawing, in fact his mother remembers him attempting to draw a church in Florence at the age of two.

Friedeberg studied architecture for a time at Universidad Iberoamericana, but losing interest in the symmetrical rigidity, and structure encouraged in building design, he turned to furniture design and Surrealism. He became known as the last of the great eccentrics, saying "the world lacks eccentrics today because people have returned to being sheep through the consumer culture and television which wants us all to be the same".

The Hand Chair is his best known work, but quite a prolific artist, Friedeberg has created hundreds of murals, paintings, and sculptural furniture. As evidenced by the painting I am including today (La Casa Irracional), his drawings, paintings and even furniture incorporate symbols, ornamentation and useless objects. He has said he's painted at least one canvas a week for the past 50 years! His work has ben exhibited all over the world. Friedeberg lives in Mexico City with his wife Carmen Guieterrez.

Leopoldo Flores

Happy Birthday Leopoldo Flores!

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.

By Lexaxis7 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25064666

Pablo Estevez Kubli

Happy Birthday (Jan 1) Pablo Estevez Kubli!

This Mexican Sculptor was born in 1953 and first studied law and public administration, before going into visual arts. Even as a young boy, Pablo Kubli was fascinated with models and industrial objects and finally put it all together to create art for urban settings. He currently lives in Mexico City.

I find it intriguing that his work is primarily steel plates that are bolted together...not welded or soldered. Initially Kubli conceives an idea, determines the main shapes and forms desired, then manually constructs the works. It is his contention that the artist must create the piece himself to get the idea across. His work deals with artifacts as well as organisms...mostly mechanical insects.

Kubli teaches sculpture at Escuela National de Artes Plasticas.



Miguel Cabrera

*Please Note: some days I am finding it impossible to find an artist's birthday...only the birthdate, so on the days I am unable to find an artist born on the particular day (like today) I will write about a random artist choice from Mexican history, whose birthday is unknown.

Happy Birthday Miguel Cabrera!

Miguel Cabrera was a painter born in 1695, in New Spain, what is now Oaxaca, Mexico. Cabrera was considered the greatest painter of his time. He painted religious works, portraits, as well as secular "casta" scenes, dealing with genre subjects, for the Catholic Church and his rich patrons. He is credited with founding the Mexican Academy of Painting in 1753.

His "casta" paintings are interesting to me since they allow us to begin to understand the social ranking system in place during his lifetime, and perhaps lead to a deeper understanding of racial issues in today's Mexican society.

Cabrera died in 1768.

*casta refers to racial hierarchy classification...used primarily to socially rank those of mixed racial marriage.