Luchita Hurtado

Summary of Luchita Hurtado

Luchita Hurtado stands as an advocate for living by intuition and allowing life to happen rather than trying to control it at every juncture. As such, when asked if recognition came too late having her first major retrospective at age 98, she replied that no, it came just at the right moment. Prior to widespread international visibility, Hurtado navigated three marriages and raised four sons alongside working tirelessly as a creative freelancer as well as an artist to support her family. She also moved in the same professional and friendship circles as some of the most famous artists of the twentieth century. However, she did not show her paintings to anyone outside of her family until she became a member of "Los Angeles Council of Women Artists" well into middle age.

She had some exhibitions following the encouragement of this new network during the 1970s and 80s, but remained shy of the attention that came with being an artist. Recently discovered and reclaimed by art history, true to character and the essence of her long career, Hurtado continues to speak only sparsely about her reasons to paint fruit, feathers, and her memorable "I AM" portraits. She accepts "feelings" (all too often quashed or relegated by intellect) and furthermore, gives emotion power and legitimacy. In turn, she requests that the viewer also allows fluidity and mystery to prevail when looking at her pictures.

Accomplishments

• A deep and penetrating sense of interconnectivity between Hurtado and the surrounding natural world lies at the heart of her practice. Indeed, it is her instance that everything is part of one inter-dependent whole that has over the years led to mounting environmental concern. She now writes protest slogans on her paintings such as "no place to hide", and endeavors to help sustain this planet.
• Hurtado is spectacularly and unapologetically driven by her senses. She speaks of her highly sensitive sense of smell and remembers her very first taste of mango and grapes experienced as a child. In the same way that the artist has attempted to accurately depict the illusive forces of fire and light, she also effectively makes visible the otherwise invisible memories of the senses in her work. Fruit is a helpful symbol in the artist's enticing sensual language.
• Hurtado was a central figure in the art world of New York in the latter half of the twentieth century. She was associated with many significant figures including Isamu Noguchi, Wolfgang Paalen, and Lee Mullican, but typically as a humble friend or an equal lover. She became a key figure in the "Los Angeles Council of Women Artists" alongside Judy Chicago but she refused an invitation to join the Guerrilla Girls, as even the name of the organization sounded too harsh to her. Hurtado has never needed nor wanted to force herself anywhere, her practice like her personality is un-invasive.
• Indeed the career of Hurtado sits well alongside the swathe of female artists - including Hilma af Klint - recently discovered and celebrated in part because they did not seek or push for recognition nor did they dedicate time to self-promotion. There is instead an acceptance and trust that the time for their art (and its appreciation) would come. This worldview aligns more harmoniously with nature, and like the slow growth of a tree Hurtado has enjoyed a quieter and longer journey towards "success".
• Stylistically, Hurtado's "Sky Skin" paintings recall the dreamy sky-scapes with unusually placed objects by René Magritte. Her abstracted and mesmerizing word pieces have much in common with the meditative visual poetry of Agnes Martin. Whilst, the aging artist's repeated drawings of birth recall similar crowning pictures by Louise Bourgeois. Bourgeois like Hurtado made birth paintings during her 90^th decade and for both artists these series are revelatory of a profound respect for the birth to death cycle.

Biography of Luchita Hurtado

Luisa Amelia Garcia Rodriguez (now simply "Luchita") Hurtado was born just outside of Caracas, in the seaside town of Maiquetía, Venezuela, to father Pedro Jose Garcia and mother Teolinda Rodriguez. Luchita was the middle child, with a sister, Maria Cecilia, two years her senior, and a brother, Pedro Jose, two years her junior. She has fond memories of her early years in Venezuela, saying "I remember sitting in this stream on a very hot day, eating a mango and thinking to myself, 'Life cannot get better than this.' I was maybe eight years old."

Read full biography

Read artistic legacy