COPPER MEDAL TFP AWARDS 1997 JOSE LUIS CUEVASID32305304
Born in México, D.F. in 1934, he was enrolled at the age of ten in the "La Esmeralda" National School of Painting and Sculpture but attended classes there for only a few months. He subsequently studied graphic arts at the Institución de Enseñanza Universitaria in México City, holding his first exhibition when he was 13. During his early years he joined a group of young artists that included Alberto Gironella, Enrique Echeverría, Pedro Coronel, Manuel Felguérez and Francisco Icaza, who were actively opposed to the socialist artists favored by the political party in power and they clashed with the official movement of "muralism" that had taken over the entire Mexican artistic scene.
In 1953 he held his first exhibition at the Galería Prisse, and the following year his work was displayed at the Pan American Union in Washington. During his first Paris exhibition at the Loeb gallery, he made friends with Picasso who bought a couple of drawings from him, and he held his first monographic exhibition dedicated by Jean Cassou and by the surrealist poet Philippe Soupault. From then on he was invited to work in several workshops in different parts of the world, including the Tamarind Workshop in Los Angeles, and the Polígrafa in Barcelona in 1981.
His favorite subject matter was to extol human values in the expressionistic style, his most characteristic works featuring portraits of marginalized beings, disfigured victims of modern-day poverty. The evolution of Cuevas as a draftsman always stemmed from that original vision, but he followed a course that in a way seems suggested by the title that Goya gave to one of his engravings: The dream of reason engenders monsters. He belonged to the Gráfica Popular Workshop and although he has designed scenery for television and has rendered some sculptures, he is an artist who has developed his work basically through drawing and the graphic arts.
José Luis Cuevas has exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. He has received recognition with awards such as the International Award for Drawing from the 5th Biennial of Sao Paulo, 1959; the 7th Mostra Internazionale di Bianco e Nero, Lugano, 1962; the Order of Chevalier of Arts and Letters from the French Republic, 1991; and the Tomás Francisco Prieto Award, Madrid, 1997.
| Year | 1998 |
| Diameter (mm) | 60 |
| Metal | Copper |
| Weight (g) | 130 |
| Maximum Mintage (units) | 225 |
JOSÉ LUIS CUEVAS
Born in México, D.F. in 1934, he was enrolled at the age of ten in the "La Esmeralda" National School of Painting and Sculpture but attended classes there for only a few months. He subsequently studied graphic arts at the Institución de Enseñanza Universitaria in México City, holding his first exhibition when he was 13. During his early years he joined a group of young artists that included Alberto Gironella, Enrique Echeverría, Pedro Coronel, Manuel Felguérez and Francisco Icaza, who were actively opposed to the socialist artists favored by the political party in power and they clashed with the official movement of "muralism" that had taken over the entire Mexican artistic scene.
In 1953 he held his first exhibition at the Galería Prisse, and the following year his work was displayed at the Pan American Union in Washington. During his first Paris exhibition at the Loeb gallery, he made friends with Picasso who bought a couple of drawings from him, and he held his first monographic exhibition dedicated by Jean Cassou and by the surrealist poet Philippe Soupault. From then on he was invited to work in several workshops in different parts of the world, including the Tamarind Workshop in Los Angeles, and the Polígrafa in Barcelona in 1981.
His favorite subject matter was to extol human values in the expressionistic style, his most characteristic works featuring portraits of marginalized beings, disfigured victims of modern-day poverty. The evolution of Cuevas as a draftsman always stemmed from that original vision, but he followed a course that in a way seems suggested by the title that Goya gave to one of his engravings: The dream of reason engenders monsters. He belonged to the Gráfica Popular Workshop and although he has designed scenery for television and has rendered some sculptures, he is an artist who has developed his work basically through drawing and the graphic arts.
José Luis Cuevas has exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. He has received recognition with awards such as the International Award for Drawing from the 5th Biennial of Sao Paulo, 1959; the 7th Mostra Internazionale di Bianco e Nero, Lugano, 1962; the Order of Chevalier of Arts and Letters from the French Republic, 1991; and the Tomás Francisco Prieto Award, Madrid, 1997.