«The beginnings of a person in any professional activity are usually plagued by chance encounters, casual events and the influence of certain characters, who together, are weaving the aura around a human being who also has experiences, joys , talks, suffering, connection and at the same time disconnection with the world in which he is immersed, that he had to live. In my case, in the family environment the figure of the artist was absent, even though I have looked at it, it does not look out there, but certainly in this environment there was a creative environment, loving of nature, sensitive, surely these are also factors to unleash the seed of the artist »(Padilla, 2019)
Omar Iván Padilla Hidrogo is an Irapuatense visual artist, graduated from the School of Visual Arts of the University of Guanajuato and studied engraving and transfer techniques with the teacher Francisco Patlán Arellano at the Arts Center of Salamanca. His first exhibition was in 1998, in the forum of the Castañeda, home workshop that belonged to Raúl Zarate (Cool Cats Studio, 01, March, 2013, Hidrogo). He was the creator of the experimental music and digital image Zetahedro project. He worked as a teacher of the drawing workshops with alternative techniques, children’s drawing, clay modeling and elementary graphic workshop for the House of Culture of Irapuato (SIC Mexico, 2011)
Omar was Disciple of the teacher Raúl Zárate Serna in the School of Plastic Arts of the University of Guanajuato (SIC Mexico, 2011). At the age of 15, he meets Raúl Zarate “who initially seems to be marginal, his paintings of village prostitutes, drunkenness, workers’ protests” (Padilla, 2019)
“When I got to know him I understood the relevance of his speeches and the transparency of his person, I understood him and thanks to him I begun understanding myself. Back then, when I was in high school I finished my classes, went to buy a some beers and some cigars” wings “Just for the pleasure of listening to him talk while he painted, sometimes a scene from an old town, other bullfighters, if I think about it, I think Raúl was a very bad example of what an artist should achieve personally, living in a workshop full of rust and more cracks than walls, poor, sick, lonely and old … However, his crafty and naive personality let see a human being without limits, full of himself, almost paternal, then his advice stayed forever in my mind “
(Padilla, 2019)
BACKGROUND
“From a very young age, came up to me the need to draw, my first influences, the television and the sketchy drawings of my four older brothers, the science fiction movies, the classic encyclopedias that in every house of the average wage-earner were bought for the use of his progeny, as well as the readings in the primary school contained in the textbooks and that had memorable illustrations. I secretly took materials from my older brother, or my sister’s notebooks to make drawings or scribble for simple pleasure may be from 4 years old. The adults almost always watched and commented with pleasure these attempts of lines, then the following years like this happened, without much boast or improvement, I never took a class, but I became the draftsman, understand myself in the lines and recognize my deficiencies, my thought was try to improve»
(Padilla, 2019)
Among his exhibitions are Habeas corpus, in the Guadalupe Marín room of the Diego Rivera House Museum (2013), the Contemporary Art Festival of the Rincón in Purísima del Rincón (2014), the collective exhibition present in the guanajuatense artistic creation, in the Museum of Art and History of the State of Guanajuato (2015) and Reintervention of childhood, in the Museum of the City.
Habeas corpus, Guadalupe Marín Room of Diego Rivera’s House Museum (2013)
Contemporary Art Festival del Rincón in Purísima del Rincón (2014)
The collective exhibition present in the guanajuatense artistic creation, in the Museum of Art and History of the State of Guanajuato (2015)
Reintervention of childhood, in the Museum of the City “A work that takes us on a journey back to our childhood and that fascination to unleash our imagination by scratching the walls with our stories and fantasies” (am. S, f)
His work generally talks about his life experience, he talks about God, about his relationship with people. Extremes are present in his work, he combines elements related to the passionate and the rational. His greater work does not translate into the aspect of the work itself, but, rather, part of the interaction with people and the contributions made to them in the course of life, this is how a product is finally developed that rises to another level (Cool Cats Studio, 01, March, 2013, Hidrogo).
Omar describes himself as a draftsman and it is from his drawing that he makes the pieces, could be sculpture or painting. He is a flexible artist in the use of materials and diverse techniques (Cool Cats Studio, 01, March, 2013, Hidrogo).
“The materials are selected as the idea is develop, there are even times when I like to feel uncomfortable and work with a type of material that I’m not used to and then it also becomes a contribution” (Padilla, 2013)
Padilla, 2013
PACHA MOMA
Omar Padilla has believed in the project of the Pacha Moma Museum since its beginning, he has been part of its construction and development thanks to his participation as an artist and his intervention in the walls of this space known as art land.
«The path of being human is full of common places and unexpected turns, among all this vortex we are fortunate to find a sanctuary for art in the city of Irapuato, a unique project in many ways, for those who have eyes to see, where people will be able to appreciate works full of an originality and a spiritual sense sprinkled with all the ancestral wisdom in a contemporary context that leads us to reflection and meditation. An enclosure that explores the possibilities of human creation and shares these experiences with all its visitors in an atmosphere of peace and harmony, as well as art and soul are intrinsically connected, a project that I believe is very necessary for the times in which we are living”
Padilla 2019
MURAL HAAXA TIIPE
«Haaxa tiipe is a mural that refers to the Seri Comcaac people, this is a woman with a make-up or hayeen ipáii, a typical woodpecker from the bajío area (Melanerpes aurifrons) and part of a nebula, it is related to the fact that we are all connected, the background of the mural represents the feminine divinity, protector, and giver of light and life »(Padilla, 2019)
References
Am. (s,f). Reintervención de la infancia. Recover from https://www.am.com.mx/noticias/Reintervencion-de-la-Infancia-20130415-0113.html
Cool Cats Studio, 01, marzo, 2013, Hidrogo.
Recover from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28qMGXgYptk
SIC México. 2011. Omar Iván Padilla Hidrogo.
Recover from https://sic.cultura.gob.mx/ficha.php?table=artista&table_id=4802
Palizada, A. (2016). Omar Iván Padilla Hidrogo, los extremos están presentes en mi trabajo.
Recover from https://issuu.com/fomentoculturalirapuato/docs/argonauta-issu_b5fe018e17b451
Padilla, O. (2019). Comunicación personal.
Compile by
Ángela Vásquez (Colombia)