Feliciano Béjar

Feliciano Béjar Ruiz ( * 1920 in Jiquilpan / Michoacán, † February 1, 2007 in Mexico City ) was a Mexican sculptor, painter and printmaker.

Biography

Béjar spent his childhood in his hometown. He fell ill at the age of eight years with polio, which he had to rely on crutches for five years and the Kundsthandwerk taught himself. His life at the time, as was raging in the land of Guerra Cristera is described as a balancing act between creative enthusiasm and penchant for self- destruction. After his health had greatly improved at the age of 15 years, he felt all the more by the urge for artistic self-expression and experimented with different materials and techniques. He learned José Clemente Orozco know when he painted one of his murals in the library of Jiquilpan. In New York City, he met Arthur Ewart know who could inspire him for painting. In 1947 he returned to Mexico and had a year later in New York's Ward Eggleston Gallery his first solo exhibition. In 1949 he received a scholarship from UNESCO, which gave him the possibility of training in Paris museums. Until his return to Mexico in 1948, he traveled through Europe by bicycle. In 1956 he again went to Paris, where he worked as a set designer and a poster artist for film and radio. Back in Mexico, he turned to the modern sculpture. His goal was to bring out the beauty of the arts closer to the public. 1966 his works were exhibited in the Palacio de Bellas Artes. 1981 were some of his work, which he kept at home with him, a flood victim. 1993 his condition is described as tense and insane, whereupon he was sent to an insane asylum. Béjar died at the age of 86 years early in the morning in a hospital of a heart attack. In several press reports, his son Martin is mentioned as the last officially appointed guardian of his father.