My name is German Arzate, and I am part of the self-taught Mexican sculptors. I was born in Mexico City on April 18, 1967, as the oldest of a family of 4 siblings.
My only way to access art was through my mother, a lover of fine arts. At that time, there was no internet, and access to artworks was through books or encyclopedias.
That’s where my love for great Mexican sculptors of that time and recent times was born. Here I present some of those contemporary artists that I admire the most.
The Mexican sculptors Leonora Carrington, Agustín Parra, and Pedro Cervantes share characteristics that always take up the power of the past as an element, the self-taught medium or rejection of art academies.
An affinity and sensitivity to the mysticism of these Mexican sculptors help to revive the myth of the divine creator, but also represent human rebellion that challenges and creates idols of precious metals that rival with invisible divinities.
Leonora Carrington
It’s been 100 years since the birth of Leonora Carrington, who is one of the Mexican sculptors I admire the most. It is a pleasure and an honor for me to know her work.
Seeing her legacy is fascinating, and particularly, I feel that what is worthwhile about Leonora Carrington is her daring at a time when women faced several difficult issues. For a woman to express herself was very difficult, and being able to express oneself in any artistic, political, or economic field was very difficult.
She is one of the best Mexican sculptors who led us to a thought system in which you confront, see, imagine, and in some way, fly with her and her works.
The fusion of human hands with animal leggings, bells, and different artifacts captured in painting, sculpture, and many techniques still speak of fascinating things.
Leonora Carrington occupies a very special place among Mexican sculptors. It is sometimes funereal and dark, but I love how she can capture what she wanted to think and say, something artistic.
100 years have passed since her birth, and recently, a great artist passed away. But she has left a legacy that can be seen and that left a lot of work to admire in Mexico.
Personally, I do my work in the same place where she made her castings, and I love seeing how her works are captured there and how in Mexico, she is a great woman of art.
Agustín Parra
Among the Mexican sculptors who have developed their own personality the most, taking up elements from the art of other eras, is Agustín Parra, a well-known artist who has inclined towards integrating religious motifs into his work, which includes the revitalization of ancient techniques.
Parra creates works under commissions of colonial art by ecclesiastical organisms, and his figures achieve a special realism where the attention to detail of the human anatomy stands out, feet, veins, hands, etc., as a constant concern among this group of Mexican sculptors.
The pieces are made individually, and Parra uses all the original methods possible from centuries ranging from the XIV to the XVII.
In addition, the closeness and preference of the Catholic Church for his work have placed Parra among the select group of Mexican sculptors who have been able to carry out works for 3 different Popes.
Parra participated along with other artists and Mexican sculptors in the elaboration of 96 pieces during the papal visits of 1999 and 2002, as well as 34 for that of 2012. Recently, he provided the furniture for the reception of Pope Francis.
Pedro Cervantes
Pedro Cervantes, like Leonora Carrington and Agustín Parra, is one of the Mexican sculptors who have mostly experimented or have made works with the largest number of possible materials, giving his work technical and creative freedom that sets him apart.
Cervantes is part of the Mexican sculptors who confess to having a fascination with the animal side of things.
In addition, Cervantes has been one of the first Mexican sculptors to advocate for a proposal of “ecological” work, that is, pieces that harmonize with urban spaces, that avoid the visual pollution of urban landscapes.
Although he studied at the National School of Fine Arts, he left the academic halls to, like other Mexican sculptors, opt for experimenting with diverse materials.
Cervantes’ work expresses elements of sexuality, the infinite pleasure that joins with the infinite instability of erotic and amorous feeling.
Undoubtedly, Mexico offers a wide range of influences that take up elements of the great technical and thematic diversity offered by this country full of ideas and ghosts, which in this case are represented in all the mystical erotic motifs in the work of these Mexican sculptors.