He was born on August 17, 1965 in the Zapotec community where “clay sounds like Silver” as the poet López Velarde puts it in his poem “Suave Patria”. Since he was little, Charlemagne has been closely linked to the Lineage of great craftsmen of black clay. that has given so much fame to our state of Oaxaca; And indeed, just as he began to speak, at the same time he discovered the magical world of venturing into the art of ceramics, at his young age; At the age of 4, surrounded by an artistic environment, his father Don Eleazar Pedro Carreño, a self-taught sculptor, and his mother Doña Glafira Cecilia Martínez Barranco, who made the traditional toy store; both artisans from San Bartolo Coyotepec; They transmit their passion for this noble profession.
Charlemagne watched his older brothers work the clay; and as a game, listening to the stories and legends that his grandmother Herminia Cardozo Galán and Manuel Pedro Andrés told him, led him to want to transmit and capture what he heard as a child and motivated by those narratives, he took on the task of “ polish” plus his creative work, making sculptures embodied in magical realism
extraordinary at his young age of 12 years.
With the restlessness that characterizes him, Charlemagne in his constant search for learning is observed by the Potosino plastic artist Roberto Donís, a character who marked a future in the visual arts of Mexico, Donís saw a natural talent in Charlemagne and with that background that characterizes him in terms of culture and roots and identity, invites you to be part of a select group of young people interested in “marking their mark on art” in the “Rufino Tamayo” Plastic Arts Workshop in Oaxaca, as the first training seedbed for the development of creativity. artistic of the Oaxacans, Charlemagne being one of the members of the First Generation of the plastic movement in Oaxaca.
In his prime, at 20 years old, he was the winner of first place in sculpture at the Grand Prize for Popular Art in Tlaquepaque Jalisco. Later, two years later, he was awarded the highest recognition granted by the President of the Mexican Republic, “The National Prize for Art.” Youth in the Popular Arts of Mexico distinction”, distinctions that drew the attention of locals and strangers to offer him scholarships from the US embassy in Mexico and the Clay studio in Philadelphia, USA.
With a clear influence of José Guadalupe Posada, precursor of the nationalist movement in Mexico, Carlomagno takes as his banner and hallmark the theme of “Death” which he considers “our eternal companion”, through sculptures in black clay such as “ Catrinas”, “Xoloescuintles”, “Encobijados”, “Revolucionarios”, “Jaguar Knights” among others, refers to its themes, whether revolutionary, independence and even current movements and moments in Mexico; to project their feelings, their concern or simply to realize the magic that our country contains.
Carlomagno has supported communities in Oaxaca to carry out projects such as houses of culture, preservation of their artisan techniques, management of cultural projects for the benefit of the Oaxacan people, and is on one of his trips to demonstrate his creative work; To be specific, in Chicago, Illinois, USA, where the National Museum of Mexican Art was being built, Charlemagne firmly proposed to “masse” a cultural project that would impact his native San Bartolo Coyotepec; but also, provide a window and shelter to the popular arts of your state, to provide well-deserved recognition to many artisans who sometimes remain anonymous; For this reason, he begins a titanic work to create a museum, motivated by the works that he saw in the neighboring country at the time; The task was not easy and “he drew strength from within” to manage resources and so in 1996 the first museum was opened in his community, with little resources and because it was a community museum, in which with the changes in administration municipal it was difficult to “sustain”.
Hence, Charlemagne took his project to state spheres, presenting it again and again to the state executive, who found it interesting and decided to support this noble cause to magnify and remedy a “pending issue” with the Oaxacan artisan guild, inaugurating the Museum. State of Popular Art in October 2004.
His love and passion for art in Oaxaca has pushed him to encourage and establish recognitions and awards for established Artisans, calling them “The Genuine Artists of Oaxaca”, awards such as the Lifetime Achievement Award in Popular Art of Oaxaca with six editions, “Statuette” Diosa Cuatlicue” and “Caballero Jaguar” to artisans from Oaxaca, and what can we say about the contests held to support the young creative art of Oaxaca, just as their mentor Roberto Donís did at the time; through 6 contests with the Friends Of Oaxacan Folk Art Foundation based in New York aimed at artisans between 14 and 35 years of age, the young art contest sponsored by Fomento Cultural Banamex with three editions for artisans between 18 and 45 years of age. age.
In some communities he has been a strong manager of preserving the wonderful “traditional Tianguis”, with the native harvest that characterizes us Oaxacans and that in some communities of Oaxaca the “barter” is still preserved. For his entire creative artistic career and his great management work in founding the “Oaxaca” State Museum of Popular Art for the benefit of the entire artisan guild of Oaxaca; The Mexican state gives him well-deserved recognition as the 2014 National Prize for Sciences and Arts in the area of arts and traditions.
His contribution has not only been through his work recognized in several countries; but his interest in providing better conditions to the artisans that he comes to consider “his brothers” and with a broken voice he always refers to it “it is only fair that the art of the people be given the place it deserves, women and men have left his life in his workshops, but they are still present in his works and in
the preservation of this cultural memory that refuses to die.
#years #State #Museum #Popular #Art #Oaxaca #founder #Carlomagno #Pedro #Martínez
– 2024-10-04 18:34:40
