Julio Carrasco Breton

Happy Birthday Julio Carrasco Breton!

The muralist and painter, Julio Carrasco Breton, was born in 1950, in Mexico.  After earning a degree in chemical engineering in 1975, Julio Breton studied painting at Escuela Nacional de la Plasticas and culminated his education with a masters in the philosophy of science.

Breton devised a portable panel method for creating murals called "isoplasticas" making it possible to create his murals in his studio, then transferring them to the installation site. The panels were made of silicone and pulverized marble. Since the panels are rolled and stacked he calls them "murals in taco"

Although his career has been focused on the creation of his own art, he has also devoted time and energy to political and legal aspects of art as well. Breton has taught, written and given talks on art, culture and copyright. He has been instrumental in founding several foundations and organizations, including Sociedad Mexicana de Artistas Plasticas (SOMART, 1980), Academia de Ciencias Naturales (1993), among others.

In addition to his mural work Breton has created over 900 canvas paintings and lately has been working in lithography. The subjects of his paintings are often the female figure and he tends toward Surrealism with strong geometric abstract shapes and bold color use. His murals explore themes relating to science, art and philosophy, the effects of technology on society, mythology. Breton currently lives in Paris, France.

Federico Cantu Garza

Happy Birthday Federico Cantu Garza!

Born today, in 1907, Federico Cantu Garza's parents were both writers, his mother a novelist and his father a journalist. He lived in Texas for some of his childhood, but returned to Mexico in the 1920's. Cantu began studying art at age 14, and became a muralist, engraver and sculptor. In his adulthood he  lived in the US from time to time as well as Paris, France, but primarily Mexico.

His murals and sculptures were large scale with some in low relief, a cross between the two mediums. Roberto Montenegro collaborated with Cantu on the first mural. Following that creation Cantu created many more murals for various home owners, government buildings and universities. He also illustrated poems for several friends, as well as commissions for sculpture. He taught in the US and Mexico.

Lola Cueto

Happy Birthday Lola Cueto!

Maria Delores Velasquez Rivas, better known as Lola (short for Delores) Cueto, was born today in Mexico City, in 1897. She was a painter, printmaker, puppet designer and puppeteer. Cueto began her early art training at age twelve, entering Academy of San Carlos before it was customary for women, and even was allowed to participate in drawing nudes. She also attended the Escuela de Pintura al Aire Libre after her studies at San Carlos were interrupted by the Mexican Revolution.

Lola Cueto was married to sculptor German Cueto (whom I wrote about on Feb. 9)and they lived for a time in Paris, where she discovered her love for puppets and puppeteering. She and her husband returned to Mexico where they formed a traveling puppet company. They had two daughters, one of whom became a renowned puppeteer and writer in her own right.

The focus of her work in theater was education and literacy. Mexican folk art and hand crafts were a great influence, and she created marionettes, traditional toys and even tapestry weavings. Lola Cueto was also a watercolorist, sculptor, and graphic artist including mezzotint. Her talent was not recognized with many showings of her work, but much has been written about her in retrospect.

Agustin Hernandez Navarro

Happy Birthday Agustin Hernandez Navarro!

Born on February 29, 1924, Agustin Hernandez Navarro is an architect from Mexico City. His father was a politician and three of his siblings are also architects and one sister, Amalia Hernandez, is a choreographer. Although he desired to pursue engineering, his mother insisted he become an architect as his older brother had done. This insistence led to the emergence of an inspiring architect.

Hernandez draws his inspiration from past history, indigenous peoples, working with combinations of materials. Rather than binding his buildings to the earth, they seem to float effortlessly in the air. He has used angular as well as curvaceous formats for his structures. Agustin Hernandez Navarro is said to be "an architect for the future rather than the past".

He states that his architecture "unites structure, form and function" just as nature does.

Teodora Blanco Nunez

Happy Birthday Teodora Blanco Nunez!

Ceramicist, Teodora Blanco Nunez, was born February 28, 1928, in Santa Maria Atzompa, Oaxaca, a village interestingly known for its women potters. Her parents were ceramicists and she began adding her own sculptural touches when she was just a little girl.

Nunez developed a new style "munecas" that is still created today by members of her family and other artists who have adapted it to their own needs. Her munecas are human "doll-like" figures with "pastillaje" (also developed by Nunez) bits of clay, flowers, animals, etc. applied to the surface, creating an intricate facade. Her creatures are usually part human part animal or fantasy figures. They are often quite large, as the one below illustrates. Her favored subjects are female figures, nursing mothers, mermaids, nativity figures, and churches.

Teodora Blanco Nunez is an artist who became famous during her own lifetime, earning enough wealth so that she was able to send her children to school. Although she was monetarily comfortable, she and her family remained on the family land in Oaxaca, as they still do today.

Her work was completed using rudimentary tools, clay from a nearby source that is black until fired in a wood fired kiln, after which it turns red. The pieces are rarely glazed, instead keeping the primitive raw clay appearance. The figures are sturdy in build, large heads with almond shaped eyes, widely spaced, giving them an Asian appearance(as she herself had).They are adorned with Oaxacan peasant decorations: earrings, necklaces, clay pots.

Enrique Norten

Happy Birthday Enrique Norten!

Born on February 27, 1954, Enrique is an architect in Mexico City. His undergraduate work was done at Universidad Iberoamericana and he did postgraduate work at Cornell University. His life has been devoted to his architecture and design firm TEN (Taller de Enrique Norten Arquitectos). In addition to his practice, he has also sat on various urban planning committees, such as the US Trade Center Site Memorial Competition. His firm has gained international status and has over 70 members. They have won numerous awards and recognitions.

Raul Anguiano

Happy Birthday Raul Anguiano!

Considered one of the most important artists of the Twentieth Century, Mexican muralist and painter Raul Anguiano was born February 26, 1915, in Guadalajara. One of ten children, he began drawing portraits from photographs at age 5! He left his school at age ten to study painting at Escuela  Libre de Pintura in Guadalajara and later studied in Mexico City. He eventually became a muralist, and said to be the last to work with the great Diego Rivera, Anguiano went on to inspire the second generation of Mexican muralists.

Born in 1915, at the peak of the Mexican Revolution, his work focused on the worker movement, indigenous peoples, folk celebrations, traditions and religion. Through the years, his work also embraced other styles such as Cubism (Picasso), Surrealism, Realism, and Expressionism. Anguiano taught art at the primary as well as the collegiate levels. He illustrated several books and many catalogues of his work.

Raul Anguiano also had a second home in Huntington Beach, California. In 2006 he became ill in Los Angeles and was flown back to Mexico City, where he died of heart problems.