List of Peruvian Artists: Parte I

Collecting facts is important. Knowledge is important. But if you don't have an imagination to use the knowledge, civilization is nowhere. -- Ray Bradbury

My current research is simply a collective one. I'm collecting and noting as many Peruvian artists I can find through an online search, ArtStor database, and other databases, as well as, group exhibitions from galleries who represent exclusively Latin American artists, art museum databases with a Latin American art collection, and books/monographs/catalogues from my personal library.

By far, I have accumulated a list of fifty-or-so contemporary Peruvian artist names, which is organized by artist name, region/country, lifedates, style, influences, and active in fields on a spreadsheet. However helpful a spreadsheet would be on a blog, it would be too involved. Instead, I will note a number of key players, in my opinion, of modern and contemporary Peruvian art. In the future, I do intend on creating separate pages for each artist [refer to left columns "Contemporary" and "Modern"] as a reference library for myself and potential scholars.

Artists ("Artistas Plasticas"):

• Kukuli Velarde (Cuzco, Peru) -- PA
• Ana de Orbegoso (Lima, Peru)
• Maria Maria Acha-Kutscher (Lima, Peru) -- Spain/Mexico [Antimuseo w/ Tomas Ruiz-Rivas]
• Carolina Kecskemethy (Peru) -- Germany
• William Hernandez (Peru) -- OR
• Victor Baselly (Cajamarca, Peru) -- Germany
• Antonio Paucar (Peru) -- Germany
• Rafael Ramirez Maro (Lima, Peru) -- Germany [Director of Ramirez Maro Institute, Son of Antonio Maro]
• Sergio Zevallos (Peru) -- Germany [Grupo Chaclacayo]
• Raul Avallaneda (Peru) -- Germany [Grupo Chaclacayo]
• Hugo Lecaros (Cuzco, Peru) -- CA
• Elena Damiani (Lima, Peru) -- Lima/Copenhagen
• Graciela Arias Salazar (Ayacucho, Peru)
• Monica Luza (Lima, Peru)
• Ximena Garrido-Lecca (Lima, Peru)
• Adriana Ciudad Witzel (Lima, Peru) -- Germany
• Margarita Checa (Lima, Peru)
• Carlos Leon Xijimenez
• Jorge Marroquin-Winkelmann
• Tania Bedrinana

Modern artists:

• Cesar Calvo de Araujo (Yurimaguas/Iquitos, Peru)
• Antonio Maro (Catacaos, Peru)
• Victor Delfin (Lobitos, Peru)
• Andres Molina (Peru)

Collectives:

• Grupo Chaclacayo (1983-1994)
• Colectivo SHAPSHICO
• Colectivo MAKIS

New Template and New Font!

Dear Readers,

The blog had a makeover! I decided to have a new look for this year, and of course, why not re-vamp the pre-existing template background to GOLD.  The previous template was functional for my intentions of showing a display of artworks on a wall, but given the simplicity and banality of said template, I chose to change it in order to leech out my true intentions. The background color chosen is symbolic with a textured appearance of molten gold. Also, the color combination of the text is both a literal representation of the Peruvian flag (red and white, gold for emblem) and an allusion to the Inka's tyrannic pursuit for creating a large empire through bloodshed and bloodletting. In Peru's history, the Inka were a fierce people and empire with great amounts of war tactics, conquest, and gold. When one asks, "If you can think of one word that describes Peruvian art, what would it be?" One might answer "gold."

One preconceived notion in identifying Peruvian art is through its pre-Colombian roots and bringing forward comparisons to Mayan art and Aztec art. Although, my mission in using this blog, aside from promoting Peruvian artists and expanding my research options, is to teach the public a different side  of Peruvian art. Peruvian art is not solely archaeological findings of pottery, gold jewelry, and mummies, that is merely an aspect of Peruvian art. Although, there is much needed scholarship and archaeology to be done in Peru still, and my intention is not to be dismissive about the archaeological work promoted in Peru today. I am simply stating my personal opinion on the identity and definition of 'Peruvian art' as we know it and see it in exhibitions here in the United States.

Peruvian art is a culmination of pre-Colombian artifacts and architecture, Colonial/Spanish art and architecture, Modern art and architecture, and Contemporary art (or at least, that is as far as it goes) from all diasporas including Andean, Chinese-, Japanese-, and Afro-Peruvian, as well as, Peruvian-American.

In a holistic sense, I am expressing my appreciation for the artistry my ancestors produced and left for us to preserve through an explicit and intentional presentation of the color gold in my 21st-century digital blog.

Now lets talk about modern and contemporary art, shall we?

Commencement of Peruvian Artists Pages

Dear Readers,

New Beginnings! "Curator - An Independent Agency" has been temporarily changed to "Curatorial Independence - Transparency and Scholarship." The title will be changing for the next couple of months as I try to come up with a solid introductory blog and resource enhancing contemporary Peruvian art/artists.

My intentions are to not only promote visibility in the United States, but also to encourage art historical scholarship. There is very little scholarship on modern or contemporary Peruvian art because it is viewed as part of an overall art historical diaspora known as "Latin American art." Latin American art is beginning to separate into niches according to its/their appropriate diaspora or country. Only recently, Cuban art and Argentinian art have legitimized their diaspora partially due to political and social turmoil. Each country in Latin America has an art story to tell. I hope I can be one art historian, of Peruvian ancestry, to deliver scholarship on modern and contemporary Peruvian art.

In terms of teaching, I would love to lecture seminar and survey courses on this topic. I know I have a great deal to learn about the history of Peru and the historiography of Peru, which I am researching and reading on my free time. Two impactful moments in Peru's social and political history that are critical to artistic production in Peru were the presence of terrorism by Sendero Luminoso (1980- present) and MRTA (1982-1997), and the administration of Alberto Fujimori, "Fujimorismo," and the Fujimori corruption (1990-2000).

Peru has grown to be an independent, stable, and prolific country. It's greatest revelation began with the discovery and transparency of Machu Picchu by Hiram Bingham in 1911. Archaeological and astrological importance phased into existence during the late 1960s. The colonial period (17th - 18th-centuries) may have been the beginning of Peru's art scene, which later flourishes in 19th-century romanticism and the Indigenismo movement in the 20th-century.

History is exciting, folks! Until next time...