Tomás Parrá (born 1937, Mexico City) is a Mexican artist, cultural promoter and museum curator. His work has been noted with membership into Mexico Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte.

Career

Parrá began studying art at the Escuela de Iniciación Artística, studying under Carlos Alvarado Lang, then enrolling in

Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" La Esmeralda or Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado (ENPEG) (English: National School of Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking) is a Mexican art school founded in 1927 and located in Mexico City. History The history of the ENPEG star ...

in 1951. In 1953, he began to work with artist Juan Soriano on stage sets and costumes for the Grupo de Teatro: Poesía en Voz Alta formed by

Octavio Paz Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and ...

. This working relationship lasted for five years, during which time Soriano was experimenting with ceramic sculpture. Gallery owner Antonio Souza offered Parrá his first individual exhibit in 1958, which was then followed by exhibitions at the Proteo Gallery, popular in the 1960s and allowed Parra to meet other artists of the

Generación de la Ruptura Generación de la Ruptura (Breakaway Generation) is the name given by art critic Teresa del Conde to the generation of Mexican artists against the established Mexican muralism, Mexican School of Painting, more commonly called Mexican muralism post ...

. These were followed by some other exhibits in locations such as the Galería Pecanins in Mexico City along with the Instituto de Arte Contemporaneo in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

and the Galería Carmen Waugh in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, culminating in a retrospective at the

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 ...

in 1998. After spending time in South America in the 1960s, Parra returned to Mexico in the 1970s to begin a career in as a cultural promoter and curator along with painting. In 1970 he joined the Salón Independiente and in 1972 he began teaching, giving classes for ten years in institutions such as the Academy of San Carlos, La Esmeralda and the Escuela Nacional de Arte Plásticas. He was also 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 ...

; however, conflicts inside this institution prompted Parra to break away with thirty two other artists to form the Foro de Arte Contemporáneo in 1978, which he directed until 1988. With this organization he held the first Encuentor de Artes Visuales e Identidad en América Latina in 1981. He has experience working with museums as early as 1955 but since 1970 worked curating numerous exhibits such as the Encuentro interamericano de artistas plásticos, Diálogo sobre 7 puntos at Museo de las Artes of the

University of Guadalajara The University of Guadalajara ( es, Universidad de Guadalajara) is a public higher education institution in the Mexican city of Guadalajara. The university has several high schools as well as graduate and undergraduate campuses, which are distr ...

in 1994. He also staged collective exhibitions at the Museo de Arte Moderno such as Autorretrato, Años 90, where he also participated as an artist and Diálogos insólitos. He collaborated with Carlos Pellicer to create the Museo Diego Rivera Anahuacalli. This culminated in becoming the assistant director of the Museo de Arte Moderno from 1990 to 1991. Parra has also judged painting and drawing competitions and frequently invited to festivals such as the Cagnes-sur-Mer in France in 1989, and biennials such as those in

Cuenca, Ecuador Santa Ana de los Cuatro Ríos de Cuenca, commonly referred to as Cuenca ( Kichwa: ''Tumipampa'') is the capital and largest city of the Azuay Province of Ecuador. Cuenca is located in the highlands of Ecuador at about above sea level, with an ur ...

and Valparaíso, Chile in 1989 and 1991. His artistic and cultural work has earned him three grants from the Fondo Nacional de Cultura y las Artes, which named him an artist emeritus. He is also a member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte since 1993.

Artistry

Parrá's work is part of the Generación de la Ruptura, a generation of Mexican artists that broke with the conventions of Mexican muralism. Unlike many Mexican artists, Parra turned down a chance to study in Europe in 1961 in favor of travel in Latin America, in countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, spending the most time in Chile and Peru. For this reason, his work shows more influence artists such as Mexican

Rufino Tamayo Rufino del Carmen Arellanes Tamayo (August 25, 1899 – June 24, 1991) was a Mexican painter of Zapotec heritage, born in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico.Sullivan, 170-171Ades, 357 Tamayo was active in the mid-20th century in Mexico and New York, ...

, Chilean

Roberto Matta Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren (; November 11, 1911 – November 23, 2002), better known as Roberto Matta, was one of Chile's best-known painters and a seminal figure in 20th century abstract expressionist and surrealist art. Bio ...

and Nicaraguan

Armando Morales Armando Morales (January 15, 1927 – November 16, 2011) was an internationally renowned Nicaraguan painter. Morales is considered one of the most important painters of Nicaragua. Morales, who was born in Granada, Nicaragua, received many awar ...

, although European influence such as surrealism is noted as well. His more mature work has more subdued colors, and he notes that much of his imagery is related to poetry, especially the writing of Octavio Paz and Carlos Pellicer. A number of his works have titles taken from their writings. As an artist his is not prolific, not only because of his cultural work but because he paints slowly and meticulously. His work is noted not for its quantity but rather for its experimentation. He is also noted as an illustrator in various techniques.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parra, Tomas Mexican artists Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" alumni 1937 births Living people