Maciel, Leonel | Colección

20th-21st Century Mexican

Childhood is fate. With a mix of black, indigenous and Chinese ancestors, Maciel was born in a shack in Costa Chica, Guerrero, a fact that predisposed him to a vision of Paradise that took him along the paths of ribald hedonism and visual exuberance.

The artist attended the La Esmeralda National School of Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking, although he jokingly admitted that he arrived to painting by accident, barely mentioning his training under the painter Raúl Anguiano (1913-2006). A multifaceted artist, in parallel to his painting he also illustrated books and created stage designs and costumes for the theatre.

Maciel, who had his first solo exhibition in 1964 in Mexico City, has presented his work in shows held in the USA, Europe and Latin America. His paintings and graphic works recount episodes from Mexican mythology, evoking violent drives and describing scores settled with axe blows. It is no accident that he himself has inspired truculent characters in novels, like Las veladas del exilio (1984) by Luis Enrique Délano, Lía y Lourdes (1998) by Ricardo Garibay or La noche del jabalí (2003) by José Ángel Leyva. His works are in the collections of major museums, including, among others, Museo de Arte, Havana; Reykjavik Museum of Modern Art and Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Managua.

Leonel Maciel