Antonio Castellanos Basich

Happy Birthday Antonio Castellanos!

Son of Julio Castellanos (see October 7 post) Antonio Castellanos Basich was a Mexican sculptor born on March 5, 1946. He studied drawing at Escuela Nacional de Artes Plasticas and then painting and sculpture at Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. He worked on several projects as an apprentice to his step-father, Federico Canessi, who was also a sculptor. 

Although he is probably best known for his monumental sculpture (15 meters high) of Antonio de Montesinos delivering his sermon facing the Caribbean sea on the coast of the Dominican Republic, Castellanos is also known for his "interpretations of femininity and maternity"... one of which I love and will include today!

Francisco Eduardo Tresguerras

Happy Birthday Francisco Eduardo Tresguerras!

The Mexican architect Francisco Eduardo Tresguerras was born on October 13, 1759, in Guanajuato. He initially went into a monastery but after a brief period left and became a practicing artist. Soon thereafter he began working as an architect. His first project was the Fountain of Neptune (1797) in Queretaro. He continued to create sculptures and paintings.
His greatest work is considered the re-building of the church El Carmen of Celaya (1802-07) (below). Francisco Eduardo Tresguerras was interred in the church of San Francisco, Celya, in the chapel he designed himself.

Gabriel Macotela

Happy Birthday Gabriel Macotela!

Born on August 7, 1964, in Guadalajara, Gabriel Macotela is a painter, printmaker and illustrator. He was educated at La Esmeralda  and the National School of Plastic Arts. He also studied with Abstract Expressionist painter Gilberto Aceves Navarro.

Since his training, Macotela has had numerous exhibits of his work, solo and group, both here in Mexico and abroad. He has received several awards and recognition, including entry into the SNCA (National Creator System).

Fernando Romero

Happy Birthday Fernando Romero!

Mexican architect Fernando Romero was born on October 11, 1971, in Mexico City. He studied architecture at Universidad Iberoamericana. His great-grandfather, grandfather and father were all developers of recreational and neighborhoods in Mexico. He married into a wealthy family, his father-in-law is billionaire Carlos Slim.

He has designed performing arts centers, airports, convention centers, museums, etc. around the world. The  organization "Fr-ee" is a project he founded to encourage sustainable solutions for growth, taking into consideration economy, social and environmental integrity. He has won several awards for the project and it has opened a branch in New York City to address projects in the US. Romero has also written several books.

Soumaya Museum (Mexico City)

Francisco Goitia

Happy Birthday Francisco Goitia!

Artist Francisco Goitia was born on October 4, 1882, in Zacatecas. His mother died in childbirth and he was raised by a wet nurse. Goitia eventually went to Mexico City to study art at the Academy San Carlos. Finding the academic form too strict to his liking, he traveled to Barcelona and studied, creating a group of charcoal drawings which were so well received he was granted a stipend from the Mexican government to travel Europe more extensively. He worked in a realistic style with, at times, some Expressionism and Impressionistic tendencies.

He returned to Mexico with the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution and became a cultural attache for a time, traveling with Francisco Villa's army and documenting the war. Following his stint in the army Goitia worked with various anthropologists depicting history and indigenous cultures. He spent the bulk of his life thereafter living as a recluse in Xochimilco.

Goitia won only one recognition for his work,  the Grand International Prize of the Bienal de Pintura y Grabado de las Americas, at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, for the work "Tata Jesucristo" (below).

Malu Block Cabrera

Happy Birthday Malu Block Cabrera!

The artist, painter and art patron Maria Luisa "Malu" Block Cabrera was born on October 9, 1904. She was born in Coyoacan, Mexico City; her father a lawyer, writer and politician. She and her husband, Harry Block, (whom she met and married in New York) relocated from the US back to Mexico in 1931. Malu went on to co-found the experimental theater: Teatro Ulises in Mexico City, which proved to be quite influential to modern theater in Mexico.

Unfortunately I cannot locate any examples of Block's painting, but her picture with Kahlo and Rivera appears below...

Francisco Dosamantes

Happy Birthday Francisco Dosamantes!

Francisco Dosamantes was an art educator in addition to being an artist and he was born on October 4, 1911, in Mexico City. His father was also a painter and interior decorator. Francisco attended the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plasticas. He went on to become a  founding member of the Taller de Grafica Popular and used his art to express his dissatisfaction against fascism. 

Dosamantes' work with cultural missions led him to be extremely conscious of rural workers plight and political and cultural issues. He spent his lifetime attempting to educate and address such topics. He painted murals, canvases and created lithographs and engravings as well as book illustrations. His themes were direct and his line and use of color is described as simplified and precise. His art has been displayed in Mexico and abroad.

One of his most important lithographs  is "Dead Soldier" shown below...