[:en]
Omaha will host Javier Pulido, Mexican plastic artist who will be visiting to showcase his talent, for a couple of weeks so that we can witness how he recreates our social environment to make spectators find new forms of perception by way of painting, sculpture, performance and even through a video installation.
Pulido is mainly visiting to create a mural by request of the Nebraska Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which was presented during the celebration of Mexican Independence Day. Pulido is a master of the methods and materials of the plastic arts, and he seeks to influence the audience that sees his work, which so far has been presented in Mexico, London, and Ireland, where his role as a teacher has also been acknowledged.
“I started to paint professionally when I was 15 years old. As a self-taught artist, I was hired to do replicas of paintings in biblical, Renaissance, Baroque and other styles. It was something that required a lot of work, which is why I had to learn fast so that I could learn more about all the classics,” said Pulido.
His professional education in the plastic arts took place at the National School of Painting, Sculpting and Engraving (CENART) in Mexico City, which is considered one of the most important schools in Latin America, where he also specialized in visual arts.
An important characteristic of his is using experiences and the analysis of the media that surrounds him to work in the execution of his work, be this individually or as part of a collective, actively participating in the creation of contemporary plastic art, taking his art to many venues. Most of the time, he devotes his work to the artistic creation, development, preservation and sharing of the sociocultural reality of his country and the rest of the world.
“With my work I’ve criticized art itself as well as the vices of artists and the international market, because I’m not looking to work on something that will merely become a decoration. I want to create something with a conceptual content that can allow us to talk about the issues that most of the time we don’t want to see, but that exist and which are present in our daily lives,” highlighted Pulido.
The art world is very complicated, not only because some artwork is hard to understand, but also because of the devotion required to make a commitment to the art while also trying to make a living out of it.
This is a point of contrast among artists who say it is or isn’t viable to live from selling the work they create every day because their good or bad fortune does not rest only upon their shoulders. There are many factors to consider: the way institutions promote culture, the work of art galleries, the commercialization of art on the international level, and more.
And one of the voices we can hear on the topic is Javier Pulido: “I have lived and survived thanks to my art ever since I was 15 years old. It is hard to sell your artwork because the international market requires that you, as a Mexican, focus on specific topics so that you can get more exposure and sell more pieces. Unfortunately, when you try to go against the flow as you try to present a message that goes beyond your nationality, people stop paying attention and galleries close their doors.”
However, a true artist always finds an open door and can always present something special with their art.
Pulido is currently preparing the final touches on a series of paintings that he will showcase in Dublin, Ireland. “I’m also preparing several projects in Mexico which will be for a series of installations where I talk about all the vices of contemporary art. I’m also still busy creating more paintings and sculptures every day.”
In Omaha, Pulido is also getting ready for a series of talks he’ll have at local universities that include Metropolitan Community College. “I’m also interested in talking about the many aspects of the day to day life and work of a Mexican so that I can eventually present that in a piece of work that talks about human experiences that go beyond our nationalities.”
For a short period, Pulido will present his work in the Business District on Vinton St. in an event where several Palestinian artists have shown their interest in participating as well. It will include several artwork pieces, many of which Pulido created in Omaha, along with a live performance from the artist during the event, always focusing not on the folkloric side of things as a Mexican artist, but certainly talking about the problems of his home country.
Omaha welcomes and presents the work of Javier Pulido, whose professional conscience makes him work on projects that go beyond recreating a particular piece of art, because in order to create art both spiritual and physical elements must coexist in perfect harmony so that it can communicate with the viewer who, in the end, is the one who brings an artist’s work to life.
Javier Pulido
His work will be showcased at 1820 Vinton St. from October 7-21
For more information about his talks at the MCC, please call 402 515.8487[:]
