Distinct for their use of vibrant colours, rhythmic, body-moving melodies and the blending of ancestral traditions with modern art styles, Latinx artists have made a lasting impact around the world. Keep reading to discover some key Latinx artists and explore Bloomsbury Video Library to find even more.
Frida Kahlo
One of the most widely celebrated artists of the twentieth century, Frida Kahlo lived at the political and artistic centre of the Mexican Revolution. Her work is uniquely personal, reflecting the anguish she suffered following an accident that left her in constant pain. Both beautiful and frightening, Surrealist André Breton described her art as 'a ribbon around a bomb'.
This portrait was filmed in Mexico, particularly at the Blue House in San Angel where she lived, and provides a compelling visual survey of her life and career.
Ana María Martínez
One of opera’s foremost sopranos, Grammy Award® winner Ana María Martínez was born in Puerto Rico to an opera singer mother (Evangelína Colón) and psychoanalyst father. Trained at the Boston Conservatory and the Juilliard School, Martínez has launched an international career spanning the world’s most important opera houses and continues to advocate and educate the next generation of musical talent.
Martínez gives a ‘pinging coloratura’ (The Guardian ★★★★) in her role as Paolina in this first-ever professional UK staging of the opera Poliuto. Glyndebourne brings to light a long-overlooked winner in Donizetti’s story of third-century Armenian martyr St Polyeuctus, delivering ‘a superb musical performance’ (The Telegraph) offering ‘lucent accounts of the principal roles and an incandescent London Philharmonic Orchestra, under Enrique Mazzola’ (New York Times).
Fernando Botero
Fernando Botero Angulo (born 19 April 1932) is a figurative artist and sculptor from Medellín, Colombia. His signature style, also known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political criticism or humor, depending on the piece.
He is considered the most recognized and quoted living artist from Latin America, and his art can be found in highly visible places around the world, such as Park Avenue in New York City and the Champs Elysées in Paris. Self-titled "the most Colombian of Colombian artists" early on, he came to national prominence when he won the first prize at the Salón de Artistas Colombianos in 1958.
New Cinema Latin
Characterized by its focus on political and social issues, New Latin American Cinema emerged as a film genre in the 1960s. Michael Chanan's two-part documentary on 'New Cinema of Latin America’, made for the UK’s Channel 4 in 1983, is now an historic document of the first twenty-five years of a continental movement which revolutionised cinema.
Featured film-makers include Fernando Birri, T.G. Alea, Julio García Espinosa, Octavio Getino, Jorge Sanjinés, Jorge Silva and Marta Rodríguez, Carlos Diegues, Mario Handler and others, with contributions from writers and critics including Mario Benedetti, Hector Schmucler, Ambrosio Fornet and Ernesto Cardenal.
Image Credits on Learning Resources Page: Getty Images
