Venegas, Germán | Colección

20th-21st Century Mexican

Since the early phase of his career when he followed the path of Italian Transavantgarde and

, Germán Venegas learned to combine the sensibility of international contemporary art movements and the forms of Mexican folk art, in particular cartonería, altarpieces and wooden carvings in provincial churches. In point of fact, he began working as a carver, a trade he taught to his own family.

After training at La Esmeralda National School of Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking, Venegas had his first solo exhibition in 1984, in the exhibition hall at Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público in Mexico City. He won a number of distinctions, including the acquisition award at the 3rd National Young Art Encounter.

He has been a member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (national system of art creators), obtaining a grant from the Programa de Fomento a Proyectos y Coinversiones Culturales, and, in 2000, another one from FONCA (National Endowment for Culture and Arts). In 2019, the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, in Mexico City, organised a solo exhibition of the artist’s work. Venegas has exhibited in Mexico and internationally (United States, Japan, Spain, Guatemala, Brazil, Germany, Ecuador, Australia, Cuba, Italy, France, China and United Kingdom). His works are included in collections of major institutions like, among others, Museo de Ponce, Puerto Rico; Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City; Metropolitan Museum, New York; and Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo in Badajoz, Spain.