JOSE LUIS ORTIZ FLORES
This is the last of this series of three articles regarding 15 Mexican painters that had contributed to our history and culture.
Making a recap, in the last two articles we briefly described the following painters: José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Rufino Tamayo, Frida Kahlo, Aurora Reyes, José María Velasco, Dr. Atl, Fermín Revueltas, Juan O´Gorman and Diego Rivera. For this last article, we are closing with five incredible women:
Painter: LEONORA CARRINGTON
Born: 1917
Died: 2011
Relevant Facts: Born in England. She arrived in Mexico in 1942, due to WWII. Some of her artwork had been compared with some Surrealists, but it was more related with the “Magical Realism”, the Creativity process and female sexuality.
Artwork: Fantasía, Retrato de Max Ernst, Bird Bath, Autorretrato, The Giantess, Crookhey Hall, Green Te, El árbol de la vida, El guardían del huevo, La tentación de San Antonio, Laberinto.
Painter: EMILIA ORTIZ
Born:1917
Died: 2012
Relevant Facts: Her artwork covers several styles, from modern portraits to surrealist compositions, to abstract expressionism. She studied at San Carlos Academy. Her portfolio includes more than 4,000 art pieces, related with the Mexican identity, influenced by Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros.
Artwork: Desnudo, Al final del Puente, La Pastilla, Perdidos en el tiempo, Nada es verdad ni es mentira, La profecía, Retorno a la naturaleza, Bajo el signo de la suástica, Solos frente al azul del mar, Sacrificio inútil, La perra suerte, Vandalismo.
Painter: NAHUI OLÍN (Carmen Mondragón) Painter and Poet.
Born: 1893
Died: 1978
Relevant Facts: Her artwork is regularly related with the Naïf Style. She uses soft colors with topics as erotism and common scenes in Mexico streets. She has several self-portraits with her green eyes at the center of the composition. The painter Dr. Atl gave her the Nahuatl pseudonym “Nahui Olin” (perpetual movement).
Artwork: La Plática, Carlos Bardi en San Sebastián, Nahui y Agancino frente a Manhattan.
Painter: ISABEL “Chabela” VILLASEÑOR (Painter, muralist, sculptor, writer, Singer, screenwriter and actress).
Born: 1909
Died: 1953
Relevant Facts: In 1928 she studied at the Centro Popular de Pintura. She painted the exterior murals of the Escuela Rural de Ayotla, where she used colored cement. She was part of the group called ¡30-30!, where she was influenced by stridencies and muralism.
Artwork: Flor de Manita, Serpiente Emplumada, Mestiza Tahmek.
Painter: MARÍA IZQUIERDO
Born: 1902
Died: 1955
Relevant Facts: She was the first Mexican female visual artist to set and exhibition outside Mexico. Her art pieces include self-portraits, landscapes and still life painting, surrounded by surrealism and Mexican folklore. During her lifetime she protested for the male hegemony in the Mexican cultural scene. In 1953, she stated: “Being a woman and talented is a crime”; so, the female figure became the center of her artwork, where loneliness and dreams are recurring topics.
Artwork: Retrato de Belém, Niñas durmiendo, La sopera, El teléfono, Escena de circo, Orquídeas, Viernes de Dolores y Llamas de Machu Pichu.