Felguerez, Manuel

Felguérez initially studied at the Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City but soon left due to dissatisfaction with its traditional approach. Seeking broader artistic influences, he moved to Paris, where he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière under Cubist sculptor Ossip Zadkine. His time in Europe introduced him to abstraction and geometric formalism, shaping his artistic trajectory. Upon returning to Mexico, he became a professor at the Universidad Iberoamericana and later contributed to the establishment of the Visual Arts major at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. His academic career also included research positions at Harvard University and Cornell University, where he explored the intersection of art and technology.

Felguérez received numerous national and international accolades, including the Second Prize for Painting at the First Triennial of New Delhi (1968), the Grand Prize of Honor at the XIII São Paulo Biennial (1975), and Mexico’s National Prize of Arts (1988). He was honored as a Creator Emeritus by CONACULTA (1993) and received the Fine Arts Medal (2015). His innovative approach to digital art led to the creation of his “aesthetic machine,” a system that generated sculptural and pictorial compositions through computational algorithms.

In 1998, the Manuel Felguérez Museum of Abstract Art was founded in Zacatecas, housing a significant collection of his works alongside those of other abstract artists. His legacy is preserved in major institutions, including the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, and the United Nations headquarters in New York. Felguérez passed away in Mexico City on June 8, 2020, leaving an enduring impact on contemporary Mexican art.