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Mauricio Cervantes works with rubber tesserae, cubic mosaics inspired by the Roman tesserae. To reveal  shows the imprint of the mold used to make them,  integrating the work way to index your creative process. This footprint suggests that the confrontation with this material leads to a process of industrial and digital production. Ironically process to create images which commonly appear ornaments, details and commentary on human nature. His series Pregnant woman talking as a generator of life and the relationship between the pregnant belly and oriental myth of the cosmic egg of the universe generator. In his own words,  doubt there is more organic matter to the treaty in this series. And he’s right. His theme, life, gives great strength between inspiration and meanings emanating from it.The tesserae that make up their pregnant silhouettes are red to remind us that if life is the most organic topic, the color red is more symbolic of life because it is the color of vital fluid that runs through our veins.

Curriculum Vitae

Mauricio Cervantes

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
1987–89 B.A. in Visual Arts, National School of Plastic Arts (ENAP), National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Graduated with the thesis El sueño de Dédalo, supervised by Francisco Castro Leñero
1989–91 Production workshop with Ignacio Salazar, UNAM

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2009 Memoria de un hermenauta. Centro de las Artes 2: Antiguo Parque Fundidora, Monterrey, N.L.
2008 Trama expansiva. Galería Ethra, Mexico City
2006 Embarcaciones Corrientes Detectores. Galería Terremoto 34, Mexico City
2004 Embarcaciones y corrientes. Galería Arte Actual Mexicano, Monterrey, N.L.
Territorios / Intervenciones, with Francisco Castro Leñero. Manuel Felguérez Museum of Abstract Art, Zacatecas
2003 Proyectos para estandartes y banderas, The Gallery, Milan, Italy
Mano a mano, with Francisco Castro Leñero. Presented during the Havana Graphic Biennial La joven Estampa, Casa de las Américas, Havana, Cuba
2002 Los ritos del agua. Galería Arte Actual Mexicano, Monterrey, N.L.
Territorios / Intervenciones, with Francisco Castro Leñero. Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca (Oaxaca) and Museo Erasto Cortés (Puebla)
2000 XVI. Galería Espacio, Morges, Switzerland
1999 Thalassa, thalassa. Galería Arte Actual Mexicano, Monterrey, N.L.
1998 Papageno y el mar. Galería Unodosiete, Mexico City
1997 Zona liminal. Amparo Museum (Puebla), Centro Cultural Tijuana (Baja California), Pinacoteca del Estado de Yucatán
1995 Recent Work. Galería Arte Actual Mexicano, Monterrey, N.L.
Variaciones florales y otras piezas sueltas. Galería Kin, Mexico City
1994 El código de lo intangible. Centro Cultural San Ángel, Mexico City
1990 Espectros en fuga. Ollin Yoliztli Cultural Center, Mexico City
En tiempos del progreso insecticida. Galería Espacio 1900, Puebla

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008 Espejos Zegache: A contemporary artistic intervention on the 18th century, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca; Centro de Cultura Casa Lamm, Mexico City
2005 Metamorfosis, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca; Le Manoir de la Ville de Martigny, Switzerland
Cowparade, public squares in Mexico City, Monterrey, and Tijuana
2004 Anthological Exhibition of Mexican Printmaking, Puerto Rico Biennial; Estrategias: Grafik aus Mexiko, Munich, Germany
2003 Pintar palabras, Instituto Cervantes (Berlin and New York), curated by Pablo Rico Lacasa; Miart2003, Milan Art Fair
2002 Gráfica actual, Fine Arts Building Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta; Todas las líneas rectas del círculo, traveling exhibition including Museo Palacio del Arzobispado, Mexico City
2001 Art contemporain du Mexique, Martigny and Geneva, Switzerland; 26–36 Contemporary Young Proposals, SHCP Museum, Mexico City; Verano pleno, Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City; Paquidermos y cronografías, Galería Lourdes Sosa, Mexico City; Gráfica actual, Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca
2000 X Rufino Tamayo Biennial, Rufino Tamayo Museum (Mexico City) and Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca
1999 2nd Universidad Iberoamericana Biennial: “Lo barroco”, Puebla; 1st Omnilife Grand Prize, Guadalajara; 2nd Alfredo Zalce Painting and Print Biennial, Morelia; La joven Estampa, Havana
1998 Inaugural exhibition, Casa Colón Gallery, Miami; IX Rufino Tamayo Biennial, Oaxaca and Mexico City
1997 Inaugural exhibition, Entre Estudio y Galería, Puebla
1996 XVI National Young Art Encounter, Museo Carrillo Gil (Mexico City and Monterrey); La memoria, Galería Juan Martín, Mexico City; VIII Rufino Tamayo Biennial, Oaxaca and Mexico City; 1st Salvador Zubirán Biennial, National Institute of Nutrition, Mexico City
1995 100 Artists Against AIDS Festival, José Luis Cuevas Museum, Mexico City
1994 XIV National Young Art Encounter, Museo Carrillo Gil (Mexico City and Monterrey); 2nd INDART Painting on Fabric Contest, Mexico City
1993 XIII National Young Art Encounter, Museo Carrillo Gil; Painting Collective, Casa de Cultura México-Japón; Germán Gedovius Painting Contest in San Luis Potosí; 2nd José Clemente Orozco Biennial, Guadalajara
1991 Paráfrasis, ENAP, UNAM, Mexico City
1990 2nd University Art Contest, UNAM Architecture Faculty, Mexico City; Un taller, Ollin Yoliztli Cultural Center, Mexico City
1989 Arenas del tiempo, Old Academy of San Carlos, Mexico City
1987 Las huellas del metal, Casa de Cultura, Puebla

DISTINCTIONS
2006 Became a member of the National System of Art Creators (CONACULTA); invited by Museo Erasto Cortés (Puebla) to produce an etching portfolio
2000 FONCA Cultural Projects and Coinvestments grant for the catalog Todas las líneas rectas del círculo
1999 Honorable Mention, II Alfredo Zalce Biennial
1998 Honorable Mention, IX Rufino Tamayo Biennial
1997–98 FONCA Young Creators Program fellow
1994 Honorable Mention, XIV National Young Art Encounter; Acquisition Prize, 2nd INDART Painting on Fabric Contest
1993–94 FONCA Young Creators Program fellow
1990 First Prize and Honorable Mention, Punto de Partida magazine competition; Acquisition Prize, 2nd UNAM University Art Contest
1989 Honorable Mention, Punto de Partida competition

COLLECTIONS
Private collections: in Brazil, Colombia, Switzerland, Mexico, and the USA

OTHER ACTIVITIES
2007 Member of the Technical Commission for the CONACULTA‑Puebla Stimulus Program for Artistic Creation and Development
2003 Jury member for selection and awards at the National Young Art Encounter (Instituto de Cultura de Aguascalientes, INBA, CONACULTA) alongside Paul Nevin and Dilan von Gunten; Jury member for the Third Visual Arts Encounter of Puebla (Secretaría de Cultura, with Ignacio Salazar and Eri Cámara)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Teresa del Conde: Casa mayor: Pictorial Project. La Jornada. September 27, 2005
Laura Pomerantz: Erratic Memory. Arte al Día: News Mex, Year 2, No. 16, October 2004
Fernando Gálvez de Aguinaga: Territories / Interventions. La Jornada. January 10, 2003
Blanca González Rosas: Territories / Interventions. Proceso Magazine, No. 1363. December 15, 2002
Víctor Palacios: Mauricio Cervantes, painting as intervention. Artes de México Magazine, No. 58. December 2001
Francisco Castro Leñero: The Voices of Time. Milenio Daily. March 24, 2001
Fernando Gálvez de Aguinaga: Visual Fragments of an End of Era. Newsletter of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Oaxaca. August – September 1998
Berenice González: Mauricio Cervantes and his Pictorial Talismans. Harper’s Bazaar. August 1998
Miguel Ángel Muñoz: Mauricio Cervantes: The Code of the Intangible. Época. May 1998
Fernando Gálvez de Aguinaga: Thinking in Time. Laberinto. March 1998
Marisa León Portilla: On the Edge of Human Experience. Mexico City Times. July 1997
Carlos Blas Galindo: Liminal Zone. El Financiero. July 1997
Víctor Sosa: The Languid Déjà-vu of the Nineties. La Jornada. October 6, 1996
Raquel Tibol: VIII Tamayo Biennial. Proceso. September 1996
Gonzalo Vélez: The Artists Speak. 60 from the 60s. Uno Más Uno. December 2, 1995 and June 15, 1996
Marcela García Machuca: Take a Look. El Norte. August 11, 1995
Gonzalo Vélez: Creation in Motion: 1993–1994 FONCA Fellows. Uno Más Uno. March 17, 1995
Teresa del Conde: Young or Not So Young Art. La Jornada. January 21, 1995
Dora Luz Haw: He Extracts Images from Mayan Culture. Reforma. November 17, 1994
Gonzalo Vélez: Cervantes at the San Ángel Cultural Center. Uno Más Uno. November 1994
Teresa del Conde: A Workshop. La Jornada. September 1990

EXHIBITION CATALOGUES

Embarcaciones Corrientes Detectores, Mauricio Cervantes, 2006, Punta Cometa Publishing
Fernando Gálvez de Aguinaga: All the Straight Lines of the Circle. FONCA, Mexico, 2002
Fernando Gálvez de Aguinaga: Fin-de-Siècle Approach to Graphic Beings. Gráfica Actual. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico, 2000
Jaime Moreno Villarreal: The Bullseye. XVI. Mexico, 2000
Efraín Bartolomé: In Front of the Hall of the Red Tlaloques. XVI. Mexico, 2000
Carlos Aranda Márquez: Mauricio Cervantes: Before Painting and After the Myth. XVI. Mexico, 2000
Juan B. Artigas: Cervantes, Painter. XVI. Mexico, 2000
Alejandro Ortiz González: Oscillation of Signs. Mexico, 1998
Jaime Moreno Villarreal: Liminal Zone: In Suspension. Mexico, 1997
Paola García Souza: Liminal Zone. Mexico, 1997
Raquel Tibol: VIII Tamayo Biennial. Mexico City, 1997
Naief Yehya: The Two Discourses in Mauricio Cervantes’ Work. The Code of the Intangible, Mexico, 1991
Manuel Marín: Painting: Collective. Mexico, 1992
Juan Acha: Paraphrasing in Pictorial Learning. Paráfrasis, Mexico, 1991
Ulises García: On Agreed Desecrations. Paráfrasis, Mexico, 1991
Arnold Belkin: In Times of Insecticidal Progress. Puebla, Mexico, 1991
Efraín Bartolomé: Insects. Fleeing Specters, Mexico, 1990 (also appears in Cantos para la joven concubina, Cuarto Creciente Publishing, pg. 52, 1991)
Ignacio Salazar: Insects. Fleeing Specters, Mexico, 1990
Ignacio Salazar and José de Santiago: A Workshop, Mexico, 1990

TEACHING ACTIVITY
2006 Drawing workshop, CaSa (Centro de las Artes de San Agustín), Oaxaca
1990–91 Drawing instructor at ENAP, UNAM
1989–90 Assistant in José González Casanova’s drawing workshop at ENAP, UNAM.

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