Ricardo Mazal explores themes of life, death, transformation and regeneration through a multidisciplinary approach to painting that includes photography and digital technology.

 

In 2004, the artist embarked on a trilogy examining the sacred burial rituals of three cultures, continents, and time periods. He began at the Mayan tomb of the Red Queen in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico, then traveled to the FriedWald forest cemetery in Odenwald, Germany. Black Mountain MK 2 is part of his final series, inspired by the sky burials and prayer flags of Mount Kailash, Tibet’s holiest summit. Mazal conveys his experience of this spiritual site through an iterative process of abstraction, building up the painting from photographs gathered in situ and digital manipulation. Applying and scraping away oil paint with foam-rubber blades, he creates works layered with luminous passages of color. 

 

Ricardo Mazal’s work is included in the collections of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona; Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City; Museo de Arte Abstracto Manuel Felguérez, Zacatecas, Mexico; Maeght Foundation, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France; and Deutsche Bank, New York and Germany. In 2006, a retrospective of his work was held at the Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City. In 2015, the artist will have a second solo show at Mexico City’s Centro Cultural Estación Indianilla.

 

Born in Mexico City, 1950 | Lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico and New York