LUCÍA VIDALES

Painter Lucía Vidales tends to blur the line between abstraction and figuration, and it’s imbued with the history of Mexico, where she lives and works. 

She’s particularly interested in the physical, emotional and spiritual implications of the body—which she uses to explore the ongoing impact of colonialism in Latin America. In the works she’s presenting on Platform this month, she integrates elements of Mesoamerican religion and mythology and its impact on present-day Mexico—in particular, the fertility goddess Coatlicue and Xipe Totec, the Aztec god of regeneration, which you may be able to see references to.

I also love how she titles her artworks (The Dead and the Living, Piss and Tears, among others)  — sometimes with historical references, sometimes with humor. I always find it to be a fun exercise to follow the clues an artist provides into their intentions for a given work, and that’s exactly what these titles feel like to me. Check her out, and have a crack at deciphering those clues while you’re at it!

—Richard Thayer, Director of Marketing, PLATFORM