page_title: Luis Argudín
section_title: Artistry
hierarchical_section_title: Luis Argudín / Artistry
caption_attribution_description: English: exhibit of Luis Argudín at the Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público
context_page_description: Luis Argudín is a painter and professor of art known for his classical and academic work in an age where this is no longer common. Born in Mexico City, Argudín was educated in England, which has influenced his work. From an exhibition of a self-portrait at the Museo de Arte Moderno when he was eighteen, he has had various individual exhibitions in notable Mexican venues such as the Museo Jose Cuevas and the Palacio de Bellas Artes. He has received grants to be an artist in residence abroad, and professor of art at the Facultad de Arte y Diseño since 1988. The artist is also a published author.
context_section_description: Argudin’s work indicates his academic philosophy of life, and has stated that he does not paint reality but rather his own version of it. His style has changed over the years. After ten years of doing abstract art, he decided to go onto other forms of expression, such as landscapes.
  Today his work is classical and orthodox, with pictorial strategies foremost, unlike most of his contemporaries, with particular focus on two-dimensional images on traditional media. He uses the academic elements of the old traditional schools of realism, similar to that of Neoclassical and Baroque images. However the themes are modern, criticizing concepts of utopia and modern progress. His art education in Europe allowed him contact with some of the old vanguard movements of the 1970s such as materialistic informalism and abstract art, elements of which can be seen in certain works since 1991.
  His preference for classical composition is best seen in his still life imagery. These are often vanitas, still life works which allude to death, and the vanity of wealth in life. These compositions will have unusual compositions of items such as fabric, plastic sheets, fragments of columns, beer trays, books and bottles, along with desiccated animals.   Death is a common theme in his work, often depicted as skeletonized or skeleton life figures, along with animal and human skulls. Another common element in his work are nudes, generally erotic, with works that include influence from the erotic photography of the 19th century, with elements that are interdependent and complimentary.
  His work is a portrait of nature in all its expressions: death, humanity, beauty, mystery and the animal kingdom. The use of light and shadow is important in his work.
caption: Woman looking a series of skull paintings by the artist at an exhibition at the Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público
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