Electa Arenal, born as Elena Electa Arenal y Huerta, (May 16, 1935 – June 12, 1969) was a Mexican artist, known best as a muralist painter, and sculptor.
Early life and education
Elena Electa Arenal y Huerta was born on May 16, 1935, in
Mexico City, Mexico into a
Mexican Communist Party family, artist
Elena Huerta Muzquiz
Elena Huerta Múzquiz, also known as Elena Huerta de Arenal (born July 15, 1908 – death 1997) was a Mexican artist, she was best known for her mural work in her hometown of Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. Most of her art career was dedicated to tea ...
and Luis Leopoldo Arenal.
Her sister Sandra Arenal Huerta, was a known activist, feminist and writer. Her mother was part of the
Taller de Gráfica Popular (English: "People's Graphic Workshop") and was within the Mexican artistic circle of the twentieth century.
As a child she lived between 1941 and 1945 (during a portion of
World War II) in the
Soviet Union, along with her mother and sister, due to political reasons. The family returned to Mexico and Arenal entered school at
Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado (also known as "La Esmeralda").
Later enrolling at
Academy of San Carlos
The Academy of San Carlos ( es, Academia de San Carlos) is located at 22 Academia Street in just northeast of the main plaza of Mexico City. It was the first major art academy and the first art museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1781 as th ...
.
She married architect Gustavo Vargas Escoboza (born 1927) and together they had two children.
Career and mid-life
Arenal assisted her mother on frescoes painted at the
Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro
The Antonio Narro Agrarian Autonomous University or Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro in Spanish (UAAAN) is a public university in Mexico dedicated to the Agricultural, Silvicultural, Animal Production, food and Environmental Sciences. I ...
in Coahuila, Mexico and she assisted
Diego Rivera on the exterior murals of the
Estadio Olímpico Universitario (Olympic Stadium) and
Insurgentes Theater between 1952 and 1954.
In 1961, Arenal moved to
Holguín,
Cuba with her family, where she opened an artists workshop.
Some of her best known mural works are located in Cuba including, Canto a la Revolución (1962), Atomos y Niños (1963), Revolución Cubana (1965), Infancia (1963), Maternidad (1964) and Palomas (1965).
Electa did not sign her works.
Arenal returned to Mexico in 1965, and started working with artist
David Alfaro Siqueiros
David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with ...
mural team.
David Alfaro Siqueiros was Arenal's father's brother in law and her uncle.
Death and legacy
She died on June 12, 1969, when she fell from a scaffold while assisting muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros in the making of the mural ''Marcha de la Humanidad en la tierra y hacia el Cosmos'' (English: "March of Humanity on Earth and towards the Cosmos") at
Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros in Mexico City.
In June 2019, the exhibition ''Buscando a Electa'' (English: "Looking for Electa") celebrated the 50th anniversary of Arenal's death, and was held at the Provincial Museum of History (Museo Provincial La Periquera), Holguin, Cuba.
Work
This is a select list of her work found in Cuba.
* ''Canto a la Revolución'' (1962), mural and facade, Raymundo Castro hospital,
Puerto Padre, Cuba
* ''Atomos y Niños'' (1963),
bas-relief, Polyclinic of Velasco, Velasco, Cuba
* ''Infancia'' (1963), bas-relief, Manuel Díaz Legrá Polyclinic (Policlínico Manuel Díaz Legrá), Holguin, Cuba
* ''El monumento a las Pascuas Sangrientas'' (1963) at the "Forest of the Heroes", in the Plaza de la Revolucion de Holguín, Holguin, Cuba
* ''Maternidad'' (1964), Cuba
* ''Palomas'' (1965), Cuba
* ''Revolución Cubana'' (1965), Provincial Museum of History (Museo Provincial La Periquera), Holguin, Cuba
References
{{Authority control
1935 births
1969 deaths
Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" alumni
Academy of San Carlos alumni
Artists from Mexico City
Mexican muralists
Mexican women muralists