Herminia Dosal

Happy Birthday Herminia Dosal!

I know Herminia Dosal was born in Mexico City, but do not know the actual date, so we will celebrate her photography today! She is a current photographer who was educated at Universidad Iberoamericana, receiving her degree in mass communication. She has worked in the advertising and editorial scene for over twenty years and is said to be a "master of light". She is able to create passionate, touching work such as the ephemeral silver gelatin print " Laura's Dream" (1998) in her 600 sq. ft. studio space. Her work in not limited to portraiture, but includes architecture, food, still life. She has also collaborated on and created books.

The photographs of Herminia Dosl have been exhibited at El Museo De Arte Moderno and El Museo de Diego Rivera, as well as included in various publications.

She says "In my work I recreate memories of childhood."

Helen Bickham

Happy Birthday Helen Bickham!

Helen Bickham was born on June 9, 1935, in Harbin, (then) Manchuria, of American/Ukrainian-Asian descent. As a child, she live in China, Japan, the Philippines, and the US before moving to Mexico in 1960. When she was eight, she and her mother relocated from China to the US and soon thereafter her Naval officer father died. Described as a lonesome, only child, Bickham turned to drawing to pass the time. Her preferred subject was the human figure, often painted initially nude with clothing to be added later.

She went to University of California, Berkeley, on scholarship. Following her marriage in the late fifties, the couple with their young son moved to Europe where she was able to visit the great art museums to view paintings by the masters. Inspired, Bickham became a painter later, after moving to Mexico with her two sons following her marriage break-up.

Her work has focused on the "common" people in their everyday life. She is said to paint every day and still rides her bike around her home in Mexico City. She believes a multicultural world is possible, where people can live in peace.

Alice Rahon

Happy Birthday Alice Rahon!

Alice Rahon was born today, June 8, in France. She began her art career as a poet, but evolved from Surrealism poetry to Surrealistic painting after moving to Mexico in her 30's. At age 3, she was in a serious accident, injuring her hip and resulted in being confined to bed and her home, for a long period of time. Her isolation was further continued at age 12 when she broke her leg. Her fragile physical state made her sympathetic to Frida Kahlo, with whom she became friends when she and her husband Wolfgang Paalen traveled to Mexico in the early 40's.

After she and Paalen divorced in 1947, she took the name Rahon. She married Canadian Edward Fitzgerald and the two worked on a film together, featuring a marionette. It was never to be a success, however, dragging on for years.

Sadly Rahon suffered an injury to her spine when she fell down a staircase and lived the rest of her life in virtual seclusion, painting only rarely.

Guillermo Silva Santamaria

Happy Birthday Guillermo Silva Santamaria!

Although this Surrealist painter and intaglio master was born in Bogota, Colombia on June 7, 1921, he taught many Mexican students during his teaching career at Iberoamericana University and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He studied art in Paris with Pierre Dauget but it took many years for him to finally find his style in geometric abstractions. He relocate to Mexico in 1956, where he taught and worked, going to Europe and the US to learn printmaking techniques. He became a master at intaglio and spread his knowledge to his Mexican students. 

Later Santamaria had a studio in Spain as well as Mexico City and exhibited widely in Europe, the US and Mexico. After a ten year period in India studying yoga, he continued to live and work in Magma Spain, summering in Norway until his death in 2007. 

Francisco Rodriguez Caracalla

Happy Birthday Francisco Rodriguez Caracalla!

Born in Mascota, Jalisco, in 1907, Francisco Caracalla was a muralist and art teacher. He grew up in Guadalajara, where he attended La Escuela Libre de Pintura, under teacher Ixca Farias. Here Caracalla met Jesus Galvan and Raul Anguiano with whom he went on to organize the group of painters: Pintores Jovenes de Jalisco.

Later Caracalla was responsible for founding the painting school Taller de Artes Plasticas. Throughout his lifetime Francisco Caracalla worked with and taught many Mexican artists, helped start several art organizations, galleries, exhibitions and schools. Perhaps he is best known as one of the greate art teachers in Mexican history?

In the late 1940's he moved to Mexico City where he created the magazine Galerias, which announced art activities and happenings around the area. He also wrote a column for the newspaper Excelsior under the pen name Aujusto Roca. In 1967, Caracalla became a professor, then later the director of La Esacuela de Artes Plasticas.

Jesus Guerrero Galvan

Happy Birthday Jesus Guerrero  Galvan!

Born on June 1, 1910, Jesus Guerrero Galvan was from a poor farming family of Jalisco. At age 15 he traveled to the US with his mother and sister. His talent was recognized by a couple as he drew with charcoal on the cement outside a food stand he was working. They were able to secure a scholarship for him and he attended art school in San Antonio before returning to Mexico. Upon his return he went to work in the studio of Jose Viszcarra and became interested in Renaissance painting since he was required to produce reproductions as part of his study.

After his training he became politically active and became a member of the communist party. He  turned to mural work, although his politics were not represented in his painting as were so many other artists' of the time. He was also known for portraiture and figurative painting, especially of women and children.  His art was also know in the US, where he completed an artist residency at University of New Mexico, Albuquerque and exhibited in San Francisco as well as New York and Boston.

Walter Reuter

Happy Birthday Walter Reuter!
German born Walter Reuter (January 4, 1906) came to Mexico in 1942, after first going to Spain, fleeing World War II. Since I missed him in January, I will write about him today! Growing up, he first desired to be a dancer or an actor, but failing to find work and interested in politics and documentation, he became a self taught photographer after purchasing a used camera. He was imprisoned in camps twice and escaped both times, finally making it to Mexico. He became a photojournalist who documented primarily indigenous people, taking over 35,000 photos of at least twenty varieties of ethnicities.

Reuter is credited with the introduction of modern photojournalism to Mexico. In addition to his photos he also created full length films, documentaries and dramatic films. It is estimated he accumulated at least 97,000 negatives over his career. Although not necessarily a fine artist in the classical sense, Reuter is recognized as such for his contribution to the arts community. He was a member of the Salon de la Plastica Mexicana and an annual award for photography was established in his name.