Carlos Medina

Last updated
Carlos Medina
CarlosMedinaBahaus.png
Carlos Medina at Bauhaus Archive
Born1953 (age 6970)
Occupations Venezuelan artist

Carlos Medina (born 1953 in Barquisimeto) is a Venezuelan visual artist. His work has been shown in Italy, France, Belgium, Yugoslavia, United States, South Korea, Austria, Hungary, Spain, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Venezuela.

Contents

Most of Venezuelan national museums present permanent exhibits including Caracas' Museo de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Museum) and Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (Caracas Contemporary Art Museum). Carlos Medina currently works in Caracas and Paris. [1]

Carlos Medina is known for his minimalist geometric compositions and large spatial interventions in combination with sculpture techniques and plastic arts. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Education

Carlos Medina was born in 1953 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. After finishing his art studies in 1975 in the Escuela de Artes Plásticas Cristóbal Rojas de Caracas (School of Plastic Arts Cristobal Rojas), he produced his first large exposition in the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo where he presented geometric works in iron assembly carved from Cumarebo limestone. [5]

In 1977, he was granted the fellowships by the Italian government and FUNDARTE (Fundación para la Cultura y las Artes). He spent seven years in Italy developing professional skills in carving, lathing, and 3D modeling by participating in workshops with Carlo Andrei from Gonari Marmi in the industry, crafting bronze sculptures in Pietrasanta Fonderia Artistica Mariani and attending courses in the Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara. [1] [2] He received the 1975 Sculpture Prize in the 4th National Salon of Young Artists organized by the National Institute of Culture and Fine Arts (INCIBA) at Caracas, the Carrara City Honors in 1978 and the Critical Art Association Award (AICA), Venezuela in 1984. [1] [2]

During his training, Carlos Medina studied graphical techniques in the Frans Masereel Centrum in Belgium and frequents different workshops of sculptors like Sérgio de Camargo, Giò Pomodoro, Alicia Penalba and Gonzalo Fonseca. [6]

Work

In 1984 he returned to Caracas where he presents the exhibition Esculturas, a series of more than 30 sculptures in granite, marble and travertine, with the addition of around 30 engravings and drawings using black and gold India ink. This exposition has been presented in the Museo de Bellas Artes and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Caracas, as well as in the main arts museums of other cities like Barquisimeto, Porlamar and Maracay. [7]

Later he developed relationships with notable masters of Venezuelan art like Alejandro Otero, Jesús Rafael Soto and Carlos Cruz-Diez, who through their exchanges influence his intervention of space. [5] [6]

In the following decades he developed more than twenty large scale sculptures: Fragmentos de lluvia (Rain fragments) is a recurrent project that dates from 1989 and culminates in 2014 with a large scale replica as gift to the city of Caracas. It consist of seven metallic droplets of 6 meters high, now in open air by the side of the Francisco de Miranda Freeway, one of the main routes of the capital. [8] The works of Carlos Medina also integrates the public domain including Caracas Metro, SIDOR, and a variety of public squares and commercial centers in the national territory. [5]

From 2012 he started the Essentials concept in the MUSA (Museo de las Artes de Guadalajara), Mexico. The exposition has been presented in Panama City and Miami. It covers a series of delicate almost-geometrical structures constructed with the use of different techniques of blacksmith’s workshop, carpentry, laser cutting and refinery of PVC sheets. [3] Recurrent themes are based on abstract depiction of tears/droplets, surfaces and neutrinos (spherical atoms) suspended in three dimensional spaces. [4] [9] ArtNexus summarizes his work as: the possi-bility of expressing through matter that which transcends the matter itself, the very essence of objects manifested only in the presence of objects. [10]

Carlos Medina has won numerous awards and distinctions. In 1993 he won the grand prize of Salón Michelena LI edition and the Sculptor Prize in Argentina, in addition to the Honorific Mention in the I Biennale of Guadalajara (2008) and the 2014 Sculpture Prize from Venezuelan Association of Plastic Artists (AVAP) . [6]

Exhibitions

Some of his exhibitions include:

Individual exhibitions

Collective Exhibitions (selection)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiyoto Ota</span> Japanese-Mexican sculptor (born 1948)

Kiyoto Ota is a Japanese-Mexican sculptor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Soriano (artist)</span> Mexican artist (1920–2006)

Juan Soriano was a Mexican artist known for his paintings, sculptures and theater work. He was a child prodigy whose career began early as did his fame with various writers authoring works about him. He exhibited in the United States and Europe as well as major venues in Mexico such as the Museo de Arte Moderno and the Palacio de Bellas Artes. His monumental sculptures can be found in various parts of Mexico and in Europe as well. Recognitions of his work include Mexico's National Art Prize, the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres and membership in France's Legion of Honour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodolfo Abularach</span> Guatemalan painter and printmaker (1933–2020)

Rodolfo Abularach was a Guatemalan painter and printmaker of Palestinian descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gego</span> Venezuelan artist, sculptor (1912–1994)

Gertrud Louise Goldschmidt, known as Gego, was a modern Venezuelan visual artist. Gego is perhaps best known for her geometric and kinetic sculptures made in the 1960s and 1970s, which she described as "drawings without paper".

Jorge Blanco is a Venezuelan-born American artist, who emigrated to the United States in 1999. He has spent his professional career working as a sculptor, graphic designer and illustrator. His work is in public sites in the United States, South America and Japan. Blanco is an international artist who has created a sculptural language over more than thirty years. Blanco has placed 25 public art sculptures in large format across the globe. In addition to public art, Blanco continues his life trajectory with collectible sculptures, his comic strip "The Castaway," and furniture design. His artworks form part of sales in auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's. In 1971, Blanco graduated as an industrial designer from the Neumann Institute of Design in Caracas, Venezuela. Under the mentorship of European artists living as expatriates in Caracas, Blanco learned to integrate industrial design with creative processes. His instructors were predominantly artists, such as Gego and Cornelis Zitman, who emphasized artistry in their classrooms. Blanco graduated with a degree in industrial design upon the completion of his first furniture line for children, which was a thesis project. Immediately after graduation Blanco began his career as a sculptor, freelance graphic designer and furniture designer. In the late 70s he studied at Rome's Academy of Fine Arts. During his stay in Europe Blanco also uncovered the world of cartoonists. This discovery led Blanco to create the comic strip, "The Castaway." In 1980, "The Castaway" made its debut in El Diario de Caracas. T Castaway was widely disseminated across the city, including the city's metro system. Eight books have been published on Blanco's "The Castaway." As "The Castaway" continued to live its success, Blanco illustrated more than twenty storybooks for children and countless educational books. His accomplishments as illustrator led him to El Museo de los Niños, where he served as Creative Director for twenty years.Like the work of his primary influences, Klee, Miró, Herbin and Calder, Blanco's presents his sculptures in primary colors. Blanco's largest body of work has been created and fabricated in the United States, where he lives and works since 1999. His artwork has received multiple accolades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darío Escobar</span> Guatemalan artist

Darío Escobar is a Guatemalan artist.

Eliseo Valdés Erustes is a Cuban artist specializing in sculpture, painting, and drawing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josep Guinovart</span> Spanish painter

Josep Guinovart i Bertran was a Spanish painter most famous for his informalist or abstract expressionist work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danilo Dueñas</span>

Danilo Dueñas, has been a professor at the Art Department of the University of The Andes, the School of Fine Arts of the National University of Colombia and at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University since 1990. In 1995, he participated in the exhibitions Mesótica and Transatlántica, curated by Carlos Basualdo at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design in San José de Costa Rica and the Alejandro Otero Museum of Visual Arts in Caracas, respectively. In 1999, he was the recipient of the Johnnie Walker in the Arts Award granted by Paulo Herkenhoff, for his installation "Espacio Preservado II", presented at the Luis Ángel Arango Library. In 2001, two simultaneous retrospective exhibitions of his works were held at the Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá and the Museum of Art of the National University of Colombia. In 2003, another retrospective exhibition was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Caracas. In 2006, he was the international guest at the Caracas FIA and in 2008 he presented "Dentro del espacio expositivo" at Periférico Caracas, curated by Jesus Fuenmayor. His works are also represented in the Museum of Fine Arts in Caracas and the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro. He is now part of the Artist Pension Trust Mexico. During the year 2011, Danilo Dueñas was a guest of the Artists-in-Berlin Programme of the DAAD.

Joel Gerardo Casique was an artist who formed the Escuela Cristóbal Rojas de Caracas. He obtained an art degree at the Art Students League of New York. He has exhibited his work in galleries and museums in Venezuela, the United States, and Aruba; he has also participated in national and international fairs, including the sixteenth and seventeenth Ferias Iberoamericanas de Arte (FIA) in Caracas; the 2007 Latin American Art Fair in Miami; and the 2006 Feria Internacional de Arte de Bogotá (ARTBO) in Bogotá, Colombia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Abend</span> Polish-born Venezuelan sculptor and artist (1937–2021)

Harry Abend, OFM was a Polish-born Venezuelan sculptor and architect. With his parents, Polish Jews from Jarosław, he left Poland and immigrated to Venezuela at the age of 11 in 1948. Abend embarked on his sculpture practice in 1958 under the guidance of Miguel Arroyo while also studying architecture at the Universidad Central de Venezuela. In 1963, at the age of 26, Abend received the National Sculpture Prize of Venezuela for his work "Forma" 1961. In 1964, he participated in a three-month workshop led by British sculptor Kenneth Armitage. In 1976 Abend moved to London where he continued developing his work and exhibited in galleries such as the Roundhouse Gallery and the Hayward Gallery. Around this time Abend began to receive commissions to stage interventions in urban and architectural environments, such as the cement mural on the façade of the Teatro Teresa Carreño, and the interior design of the Sala Plenaria in the east tower of Parque Central, both in Caracas. A selection of his solo shows include Esculturas, Museo de Arte Moderno, Río de Janeiro (1968); three exhibitions at Sala Mendoza, Caracas ; Electrum Gallery, London (1977); Saint James Piccadilly Festival, London (1981); a retrospective at the Museo de Arte Moderno Jesús Soto, Ciudad Bolívar (2002); Museo de Arte Acarigua Araure, Acarigua (2003); Museo Kern Unión Israelita de Caracas (2012); Galería GBG ARTS, Caracas and Henrique Faria, New York. He lived and worked in Caracas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos J. Tirado Yepes</span>

Carlos J. Tirado Yepes, is a Venezuelan artist, painter and sculptor who has developed a very personal and precise work line linked to Neo-pop art. With plenty of personal art exhibitions, Tirado Yepes has participated in numerous collective exhibitions, receiving different awards like III Premio de Escultura del Certamen Aires de Córdoba in 2004 and other recognitions, among them, in the Venezuelan Embassy in DC (2005), and the X Latin Art Festival of Atlanta (2005).

Tomás Parrá is a Mexican artist, cultural promoter and museum curator. His work has been noted with membership into Mexico Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo</span> Contemporary art museum

The Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo, also known as MUAC, is a large contemporary art museum located within the main campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). It opened in November 2008 and it is the first Mexican public museum exclusively focused to the arts created in the XXI century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muu Blanco</span>

Muu Blanco, is a multidisciplinary Venezuelan artist. He works in the plastic arts, performance, drawing, photography, electronic music, conceptual video, and handbag design. His compositions have been presented locally as well as internationally, including in cities like: New York City, Berlin, Miami, Barcelona, Bogota, Buenos Aires, London, Vancouver and Milan. His work has been regarded as a criticism to power, wealth and narcissism, as well as commentary on the urban landscape of modern Caracas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Amaral</span> American-born Colombian artist

Jim Amaral is an American-born Colombian artist known for his drawings and bronze sculptures. Over a career that spans more than half a century, Amaral has also been dedicated to painting, etchings, collages, furniture design, assemblages/objects, and artist’s books. The artist has been widely recognized for his draughtsmanship, the subtlety and refinement of his technique as well as his imaginative and cultured universe. As a constant experimenter, Amaral has developed a unique aesthetics and symbolism and therefore has never belonged to any style or movement in particular. However, his work has been linked, for example, to surrealism and ancient Greece (sculpture). His art is deeply rooted in the psychological realms of the human existence. Amaral has always been focused on the condition of the human being, especially the topic of death and the passing time. "I am only trying to understand the world, to live through my painting. I am trying to understand certain mysteries, such as the energies of life and death, the loneliness of a man (...) I paint what people can reflect upon, so that what stays with the spectator is not only the visual impact".

Flor Minor is a Mexican sculptor and graphic artist, known for bronze sculptures and graphic work that generally depict the male form. Her works often are based on the concept of balance or lack thereof. Minor has had individual exhibitions in notable venues in Mexico and abroad, and her work can be found in a number of public and private collections. She has been recognized in Mexico with membership in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.

Miguel Ángel Rojas is a Colombian conceptual artist born in Bogotá in 1946. His work includes drawing, painting, photography, installations and video and is often related to the sexuality, the marginal culture, the violence and problems involved with drug consumption and production.

Maria Teresa Torras, was Venezuelan-nationalized Spanish artist specializing in sculpture, textiles and metalwork.

Elba Damast was a Venezuelan artist.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Carlos Medina". Ascasso Gallery. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  2. 1 2 3 "Carlos Medina". Art Nouveau Gallery. Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  3. 1 2 Ascaso, Antonio (February 2016). "Carlos Medina Essential". ArtCircuits. Ascaso Gallery. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
  4. 1 2 Chacón, Katherine. "Carlos Medina - ArtNexus" . Retrieved 2016-12-29.
  5. 1 2 3 Perez, Pedro (2007). Carlos Medina. Editorial Arte. Legal deposit If05120077004731.
  6. 1 2 3 "Carlos Medina About the artist". MarionGallery. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  7. González, Salvador; María, José (1983). Carlos Medina: Esculturas (in Spanish). Caracas: Museo de Bellas Artes. Legal deposit nb 84-3196.
  8. "Inauguran obra "Fragmento de lluvia para Caracas"". noticias24 (in Spanish). 2014-07-25. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  9. AscasoGallery (2016). Carlos Medina Essential. Venezuela/Miami: Editorial Arte. ISBN   978-0-9911317-6-1.
  10. Borowiak, Susana Quintero. "Carlos Medina - ArtNexus" . Retrieved 2016-12-29.