Juan Soriano
Juan Soriano ( born August 18, 1920 in Guadalajara, Mexico, † 10 February 2006 in Mexico City) was a Mexican painter, illustrator and sculptor.
The son of Rafael Rodríguez Soriano and Amalia Montoya Navarro was born as Juan Francisco Rodríguez and Montoya took as a child the name Soriano by surname of his father's.
Life and work
With 14 years of Soria took as a child prodigy with a self-portrait and portraits of his sisters Rosa and Martha in an exhibition at the Museum of the workshop Evolución Guadalajara part.
1930
A year later - in 1935 - his works were shown in a solo exhibition in Guadalajara, before he followed his sister Martha to Mexico City. There he worked as an art teacher while he attended evening classes in art. In the following years he became politically active in the League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists ( LEAR; Spanish: Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios ) and participated in their exhibitions, which he came into contact with art galleries and the local cultural scene, including Rafael Solana, Frida Kahlo and other members of the magazine Contemporáneos. As a stage artist, he worked on plays of Maurice Maeterlinck and George Bernard Shaw.
In 1938, he became friends with the writer and Nobel literature laureate Octavio Paz later ( " The Labyrinth of Solitude "). After he had broken with the LEAR, he traveled with Rafael Solana to the University at Berkeley (USA).
1940
During the next years he taught nude painting at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado " La Esmeralda", created ceramics in the workshop Francisco Zúñiga and worked as a scene painter and costume at a performance Juan Ruiz de Alarcón's El tejedor de Segovia. In August 1941 his works were shown at the Art Exhibition of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, prompting him Octavio Paz, the Essey Rostros de Juan Soriano devoted.
In the period of 1945-47, he participated in several exhibitions in Philadelphia and New York, where he will meet with Octavio Paz and Rufino Tamayo. For the first time his works were shown in Mexico City. In an essay he is compared with artists such as Frida Kahlo, Agustín Lazo, Rufino Tamayo and Carlos Mérida.
1950
1951-53 he learned in Rome the Chilean surrealist Roberto Matta know in whose workshop he produced terracotta and ceramics.
The impressions of a trip to Crete in 1954 he worked in the painting Apollo and the Muses. Octavio Paz dedicated to him another essay.
In the Roman gallery Schneider began in 1956 a series of exhibitions of his works in Europe. He joined the newly formed theater group Poesía en voz alta as a scene painter and costume designer.
In 1957 he was awarded the José Clemente Orozco Prize of the State of Jalisco. He worked with the theater group of works by Ionesco and TS Eliot and introduced in 1958 in the Art Gallery Ruthermore in San Francisco.
1959 an exhibition was held as a painter at the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City for the 25th anniversary of his work. The magazine of the University of Mexico published his Essay Abstract painting.
1960
In 1960 he created as part of the seventh program of Poesía en voz alta the stage set for a performance of Sophocles' Electra.
1961-62, he was appointed teacher of ceramics at the national design and crafts school. He devoted himself to working on several portraits of Lupe Marín, who was portrayed by Diego Rivera and published a tribute to Picasso in the university newspaper. Octavio Paz wrote another essay La exposición de Soriano.
1963 was followed by the exhibition Juan Soriano y el Teatro at the Cultural Center Casa del Lago UNAM and the eighth program of Poesía works by Lope de Vega. He traveled to the Yucatán. A car accident, he worked in the picture El accidente.
1970
1969-75 he stayed for the second time in Rome. In 1975 he made on behalf of Olivetti engravings in the workshop of Bramsen and Colt. He became friends with Antonio Saura, Julio Cortázar, Milan Kundera and Valerio Adami and commuted since that time between Paris and Mexico City.
In 1976 he was awarded the Special Prize of the 8th International Festival of Painting at Cagnes -sur -Mer and 1978-79 support a scholarship for making 30 large and 30 small-format images.
1980
In 1980 he published a portfolio of 32 silkscreen prints to lyrics by Sergio Pitol. Monterrey, Chihuahua and Mexico City showed retrospectives of his work.
50 years of artistic creation in 1985 celebrated with an honorary exhibition, which was shown in many cities in Mexico.
In 1987, the National Art Award and other honors were bestowed on him. He created the monumental sculpture Toro for a park in Villahermosa ( Tabasco ).
In 1989, he created another monumental sculptures such as Paloma ( Dove ) for the museum MARCO in Monterrey, Ola for the World Trade Center of Guadalajara and El caracol ( The Snail ) for the Museum Amparo in Puebla.
1990
On the 70th birthday him the Museo de Arte Moderno honored in Mexico City and the Instituto Cultural Cabañas of Jalisco.
1993 led to the monumental sculpture Luna Mexico City. The Colegio de Jalisco and the Mexican Cultural Institute in San Antonio ( Texas) exhibited his sculptures.
In 1994, he created the monumental sculpture for the Sirena Plaza Loreto in Mexico City. The exhibition Juan Soriano visto por once Fotógrafos ( Juan Soriano, seen from eleven photographer ) is in San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Washington, DC and Chicago shown.
The exhibition Juan Soriano, 50 anos de obra grafica ( Juan Soriano, 50 years graphic works ) 1995-96 has been shown in various American cities. It created the monumental bronze sculptures Dafne and Mano for two buildings in Mexico City.
In 1997, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid showed a large retrospective of his work from 1937-1997 with paintings, sculptures and graphic works.
2000
To celebrate the 80th birthday in 2000, he designed 20 monumental sculptures for the Plaza de la Constitución in Mexico City and two more than 6 feet tall bronze sculptures Ofrenda l & II for the Expo 2000 in Hanover. In his honor, the International Museum of Contemporary Art held an exhibition Rufino Tamayo.
2001 and held six exhibitions held in Mexico, the Centro Cultural Español de Cooperación Iberoamericana in Miami exhibited his paintings and presented Orlando Gozalez Estevas book about Juan Soriano. Arturo Ripstein directed a feature film about Soriano's life.
Followed in 2002 by a traveling exhibition of sculptures in Madrid, Budapest and Berlin.
Soriano illustrated books La Fuerza del 2003 Destino by Julieta Campos and El Aguila o Sole Octavio Paz and created six sculptures for various Mexican states.
In 2004 he was appointed an Officer of the Legion of Honour. In Mexico, five exhibitions, the Foundation Juan Soriano y Marek Keller is founded.
In 2005 there were several exhibitions at the UNAM. The artist was awarded the Velázquez Art Prize of the Spanish government.
On 10 February 2006 Juan Soriano died in a hospital in Mexico City from pneumonia.
Soriano was the last survivor of the so-called " Mexican School", which also includes Frida Kahlo, and Octavio Paz, the writer, a close friend Soriano belonged. As an artist, in which he always saw a rebel, he combined realism with the abstract and tradition with avant-garde.