Liste Year
Year of Birth
Country of Birth
Presented by
2021
1986
Netherlands
Dürst Britt & Mayhew
Alejandra Venegas’ work bears witness to an intense relationship with the landscape. Based in the mountains on the outskirts of Mexico City, Venegas establishes a dialogue with the traditional Chinese painting style Shan sui, that literally means ‘mountain’ and ‘water’, through an intuitive and spontaneous practice, imbued with the dynamism and bright palette of Mexican modern art.
Venegas uses an unusual surface to paint on, namely carved wood. She hand carves scenes related to nature from various sorts of wood native to Mexico, after which she colours them with gouache and wax. Uniting the natural, warm tones of the wood with stridently bright shades is a contrast she actively seeks for. Incorporating the existing irregularities of the wood makes it much more than just a panel to paint on and gives the work a definite sculptural character. For Venegas these works have therefore become a meeting place between painting, sculpture and drawing.
Short biography
Alejandra Venegas (Mexico, 1986) studied Visual and Plastic Arts at La Esmeralda in Mexico City, where she is currently based.
Recent solo exhibitions include “Timicho” at Dürst Britt & Mayhew, “Cavar estanques y amontonar montañas” at Casa Santa Maria de Fundación Casa Wabi and the duo exhibition “Frequently the woods are pink “ with Paul Beumer at Dürst Britt & Mayhew.
Recent group exhibitions include ‘Bailando en la Oscuridad’ at Galeria Karen Huber, Mexi ...
An Interview with Alejandra Venegas
by Madelon van Schie
How and when did your history as an artist begin? Was this an organic process or can you identify a moment in which you realized that this was your path?
I was always attracted to art. In the house I lived as a child I was surrounded by it, which made it very easy to relate to. So, a natural process I would say.
Did your parents work with art, or are they artists themselves?
Yes, my father was quite a renowned artist in the 1990s ...
"For me the landscape is the concentration of everything that is alive, of everything that breathes and moves. It relates to the microcosm that is man. Painting the mountains and water therefore is to portray mankind, not so much its physical appearance, but its spirit."