Guillermo Valentin

FEATURED ARTIST

EXHIBITION Fall/Winter 2011: Sculptures by Guillermo Valentin

Guillermo Valentin

Born in Michoacan, Mexico, Guillermo Valentin studied art at the Bellas Artes Academy in Baja California and continued his art education in the Cultural Center El Nigromante, in San Miguel de Allende. His mentor, Lothar Kestenbaum, constantly encouraged him to experiment and to explore new and different techniques to produce original art. Thirty five years on, he still puts innovation into all of his pieces.

Valentin creates his sculptures in cast stone, entirely by hand with no mechanical tools. He uses his own special technique, developed after years of experimentation and refinement. The stone-like textures and pleasing colorations for which his sculpture are so prized are a result of his masterfully combining crushed granite, marble, quartz and limestone into a base substance, a secret technique which he invented and he alone knows how to do.

Valentin also is widely known for his bronze sculptures.

Each of Valentin's sculptures is a one-of-a-kind - and will always be - because the piece's plaster mould is always destroyed upon removal of the sculpture.

Valentin's work has been widely exhibited in more than 120 collective and individual exhibitions in Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico and United States.

Valentin's sculptures have been exhibited in the top museums in Mexico, such as El Museo de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.

SELECTIVE EXHIBITIONS

2011 Alicia Armstrong Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
2010 Lumina Fine Art Gallery, Taos, NM
2005 Louis Arrow Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2000 Randall Erickson Contemporary Gallery, Palm Springs, CA
1995 Galleria de La Ciudad, Mexicali, Mexico
1993 Coachella Valley Historical Museum, Indio, CA
1991 Galleria del Instituto de Bellas Artes, Mexicali, Mexico
1990 Teatro del Estado de Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico
1986 University of Guanajuato, Mexico
1982 Centro de Arte Quetzalli, Monterrey, Mexico
1981 Museo Nacional de Bellar Artes, Mexico
1980 Casa de La Cultura from Zacahuizco, Mexico, D.F.
1979 Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico
1978 Instituto de Bellas Artes, Queretaro, Mexico
1977 Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Guanajuato, Mexico

AWARDS

2007 Industry Award, Sculptural Pursuit Magazine
1993 Silver Award, Art of California Magazine
1987 First Place. Sculpture IV Bienal 1987, Mexicali, Baja California Mexico
1978 Second and Third Place. Sculpture Midwinter Fair, Imperial Valley, CA
1975 National Institute of Bellas Artes Scholarship, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
1973 Second Place. National Sculpture Competition, Mexico City, Mexico
1973 First and Second Place. Mexicali State Competition, Mexico
1972 First Place. Mexicali State Competition, Mexico

"I deeply admire and respect women, and my pieces represent indigenous women with no inhibitions, completely aware of their beauty and strength, and proud of themselves."
Guillermo Valentin