Azteca de Gyves (born February 16, 1963) is a Mexican artist from

Juchitán de Zaragoza Juchitán de Zaragoza (; Spanish name; Isthmus Zapotec: ''Xabizende'' ) is an indigenous town in the southeast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Juchitán District in the west of the Istmo de Tehuantepec region. With a 2005 censu ...

in the state of

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

. She is of Zapotec heritage and one of only two prominent female artists in her city. She has been a member of the

Salón de la Plástica Mexicana Salón de la Plástica Mexicana (Hall of Mexican Fine Art; ''SPM'') is an institution dedicated to the promotion of Mexican contemporary art. It was established in 1949 to expand the Mexican art market. Its first location was in historic center o ...

since 1998 and has exhibited her work individually and collectively in Mexico,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, the United States, Japan and other countries.

Life

Azteca de Gyves was born on February 16, 1963, in Juchitán de Zaragoza in the state of Oaxaca. She is of Zapotec heritage, daughter of Leopoldo de Gyves, leader of the Coalición Obrero-Campesina-Estudiantil del Istmo (Worker-Peasant-Student Coalition of the

Isthmus of Tehuantepec The Isthmus of Tehuantepec () is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Before the opening of the Panama Canal, it was a major overland transport route known simply as the T ...

) . She earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from the

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

but later studied painting at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" from 1991 to 1995. She is one of two prominent female painters in Juchitan, along with Natividad Amador.

Career

Her individual exhibitions include Zoología en Azul at the Centro Cultural Juan Rulfo in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

(1998), Ancestros at the Museo de Artesanías e Industrias Populares del Estado de Oaxaca (2000), Serie Marina at Galería Nutall in

(2000), Naturaleza Nuestra at Exposiciones Pictórica in Oaxaca (2001), De Paseo con la Muerte at Galería Binni Rutié in Monterrey (2006) and Viaje a Mitla at Galería Binni Rutié (2007) . Internationally, she has had collective exhibitions in France, San Antonio, Texas, Spain, Japan,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and Brazil. In Mexico, her work has been shown in Mexico City,

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate mun ...

, Monterrey and Oaxaca. In 2007, she participated in the Carpeta gráfica conmemorativa de la vida y obra de don Benito Juárez García" exhibition which was exhibited in various places in Mexico as well as Spain, the US,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, Argentina, Venezuela and Peru. In 2002, she donated works to the Universidad de Paraiba in Brazil as part of a cultural exchange program between Mexico and that country. Her art often reflects her Oaxacan and indigenous heritage. La geometría y la greca was a series of paintings revolving around the use of fretwork in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica ...

n architecture, textiles and more. Mesoamerican fretwork played an important role in the 2012 exhibit called “Huevos al gusto” (Eggs to order) at the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. The exhibit consisted of decorated eggshells and egg-shaped sculptures as well as painting featuring eggs as representative of life. She has been a member of the

since 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyves, Azteca Mexican artists Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" alumni 1963 births Living people Artists from Oaxaca