 | Byron Galvez was born in 1941 in Mixquiahuala, State of Hidalgo, and since very young displayed his artistic yearnings. His father, who was a merchant and farmer, was a enthusiast of literature and, also, played the violin in a local jazz band. It is in this manner that the painter naturally grew in an environment tied to culture.
At 16 he decided to move to Mexico City, with a central objective: to study art at the Academy of San Carlos. It was there, between 1958 and 1962 where he studied and had as teachers, among others, the Spanish painter Antonio Rodriguez Luna, etching master Francisco Moreno Capdevila, Luis Nishizawa, Santos Balmori and Antonio Ramirez. He was shaped, as can be seen, with a generation of first rate teachers, and this motivated him to follow his vocation as a plastic artist steadily and tenaciously.
Between 1962 and 1964 he pursued post-graduate studies, specializing in painting. At the same time he was a founding member of the workshop of metal sculpture of the National School of Visual Arts of the Autonomous National University of Mexico.
In 1964 he assembled his first individual exhibit and since then has had over 60 in different venues in Mexico and various cities in the United States, Europe and Latin-America. His work has also been part of innumerable collective exhibits. A singular moment occurred when, being very young, the famous American actor Vincent Price bought every work of his first individual exhibit. In order for the show to go on, the artist showed his amazing creative capacity and in a week created 45 new pieces. Astounded at Byron Galvez's work, Price called him a "Mexican Picasso". Since then he has been presented with over 15 awards and honorary tributes recognizing his vast and diverse work.
Throughout his intense career as a plastic artist he participated in special programs filmed for the Office of Radio, Television and Cinematography. Traveling many times to the European continent and visiting the most important museums of the old world has been instrumental in the development of Byron Galvez's plastic schooling, he considers this activity an unavoidable formative experience it the growth of an artist.
Since 1995 he is a member of the National Art and Culture Council of the State of Hidalgo, having been appointed by the governor of the state.
His plastic work, which includes sculpture, etching, lithography, sketching and painting, is part of important private collections in Mexico and abroad.
Among those who have written about his work we include Jorge Juan Crespo de la Serna, Alejandro Aura, Berta Taracena, Santos Balmori, Pablo Fernandez Marquez, Enrique F. Gual and Margarita Nelken. |
|
|
