Heriberto Juárez
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Heriberto Juárez (March 16, 1932 – August 26, 2008) was a self-taught Mexican sculptor, known for his depictions of women and animals, especially bulls. As a youth he wanted to be a bullfighter but gave this up when he found he could sell figures he made. While never formally trained, he had over seventy individual exhibitions of his work in Mexico and the United States and his work can be found in prominent public and private collections.


Life

Juárez was born in San Juan Teotihuacán, the modern town near the archeological site of the same name north of Mexico City . As a child, he reproduced in clay the pre Hispanic figurines he found in the countryside. His life since very young, was tied to livestock. As a boy he would lead his father's bull down the main street to water, even though the animal weighed over 800 kilos, proud he could do this. He also had his own horse on which he took long rides. He lived close to the slaughterhouse and some of his friends jumped the fence to fight the bulls. He participated as well and decided to become a bullfighter. As such he was gored several times, once seriously, which resulted in two weeks in the hospital. This led his family to oppose this activity but Juárez was stubborn and continued. It was only when he was stuck in
Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
without money for food, he decided to change. Bored, he made a clay figure of Lorenzo Garza, a noted Mexican matador. His friends were surprised by its quality and suggested he sell it, which it did, quickly. It was followed by many more and helped him to survive. While he continued to develop his art, he never studied formally. He died in 2008.


Career

He began his art career in 1961 and since then has had over seventy individual exhibitions and participated in over forty collective ones. These include MACAY in Mérida (2008), Jockey Club of Mexico (2006),
Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público The Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público is an art museum located in the historic center of Mexico City. It is housed in what was the Palacio del Arzobispado (Palace of the Archbishopric), built in 1530 under Friar Juan de Zum ...
in Mexico City (2005), Townsend Gallery in Los Angeles (2002), Galería Arroyo de la Plata in Zacatecas (2002), Elaine Baker Gallery in Boca Raton (1999), Museo de Irapuato in Irapuato (1998),
Cámara de Diputados The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon Res ...
in Mexico City (1996),
Mexico City Airport Mexico City International Airport ( es, link=yes, Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México, AICM); officially ''Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez'' (Benito Juárez International Airport) is the main international airport serving ...
(1994), Robert Brady Museum in Cuernavaca (1993),
PEMEX Pemex (a portmanteau of Petróleos Mexicanos, which translates to ''Mexican Petroleum'' in English; ) is the Mexican state-owned petroleum company managed and operated by the Mexican government. It was formed in 1938 by nationalization and expr ...
(1991), Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (1990, 2007), Tec de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México (1989),
Centro Cultural Mexiquense Centro Cultural Mexiquense is a cultural center located on the western edge of the city of Toluca in central Mexico. The center is run by the State of Mexico government through an agency called the Instituto Mexiquense de Cultura (IMC), the larges ...
(1989),
Museo de Arte Moderno The Museo de Arte Moderno (Museum of Modern Art) is located in Chapultepec park, Mexico City, Mexico. The museum is part of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura and provides exhibitions of national and international contemporary a ...
(1988), Galería Misrachi in Mexico City (1988,1992), Salón de la Plástica Mexicana (1986), Machorro Gallery in Houston (1982), Premrou Gallery in New York (1981), Museo de Arte e Historia in
Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Juà ...
(1978, 1984), Mexican Consulate in San Antonio (1976), Museo de Charreria in Mexico City (1974), Museo de Bellas Artes in Toluca (1974), Centro Deportivo Israelita in Mexico City (1971), National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City (1970), Museo Michoacano in Morelia (1970), Casa de la Paz in Mexico City, (1979), Casa de la Cultura in Morelia (1968), Casa del Lago, Mexico City (1968), Galeria Tasende in Acapulco (1968), Escuela National de Artes Plásticas (1965), Galería Excelsior in Mexico City (1963), O.P.I.C in San Antonio (1963), Galería 1567 in Mexico City (1962) and the Galería Chapultepec in Mexico City (1962) . His work can be found in the Rali Foundation museum in Chile, Uruguay and Israel, The Art Museum in
Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...
, the
Museum of Latin American Art The Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) was founded by Dr. Robert Gumbiner in 1996 in Long Beach, California, United States and serves the greater Los Angeles area. MOLAA is the only museum in the United States dedicated to modern and contempora ...
in Long Beach, California, the
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in New York, the JP Morgan Bank in Mexico and the J. Walter Thompson Art Collection in New York. A piece called "Caballo con jinete" can be found at the Swedish embassy in Mexico and in 1998, the Universidad de las Américas Pueblas opened the Heriberto Juárez Sculpture Garden which contains over 100 of his pieces. 1n 1999, two books on his work were published: Los dibujos de Heriberto Juárez and Heriberto Juárez, Platería. In 2008, Heriberto Juárez. Escultura y pintura was published. In recognition of his work, Juárez was accepted as a member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana . In 2010 the Museo Regional de la Laguna in Torreón,
Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...
had a retrospective of his work, specially to allow children and the visually-impaired touch the sculptures.


Artistry

Although he had no formal artistic training, he did learn from sculptor Juan Soriano and from a carver named Juan de la Cruz. However, most of his learning came from trips to different countries, studying the works of the Greeks, Egyptians, Mesoamericans,
Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...
,
Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
and
Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...
. Women are depicted with curved shapes, especially to emphasize the maternal in poses that create concave spaces for balance. He recalls "My mother’s live had to be divided among her eight children. I think that is why I like to interpret women in my sculptures. The female figure allows me to express what I admired as a boy: tenderness, strength, femininity, sensuality." He transferred much of what he learned as a bullfighter to his art, learning as much as he can about his subject before working on the piece. When he creates male forms, they generally resemble Atlas, a horse rider or a matador, using lives and concepts related to force. Common elements in his work include pigeons, the human figure, horses and especially bulls. Despite the short list, none of these depictions repeat. All are distinct. He has particularly depicted bulls in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, textures and colors. Pigeons come in second place which he generally depicts in simple lines in materials such as bronze, marble and onyx . He advocated that Mexican art should reflect Mexican thought and life.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Juarez, Heriberto 1932 births 2008 deaths Artists from the State of Mexico 20th-century Mexican sculptors