Herman Aguirre
Lecturer
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Bio
BFA, 2014, School of the Art Institute, Chicago, IL; MFA, 2017, School of the Art Institute, Chicago, IL. Exhibitions: Zolla Lieberman Gallery, Chicago; Portrait Society Gallery, Milwaukee, WI; Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Publications: New American Paintings Issues #129, #137, #143; Studio Visit Volume # 39, #44. Collections: National Mexican Museum; Permanent Collection, Chicago, IL; Rockford Art Museum; Permanent Collection, Rockford, IL. Awards: Fine Arts Work Center Residency, Provincetown, MA; Leonore Annenberg Foundation Fellowship.
Personal Statement
The works are composed of visual representations depicting traumatic events
that shape the world around me. As a Mexican American, I use my identity, culture, and traditions as a potent form of inspiration. Through the materiality of paint, I try to capture the essence of an image referencing personal and public events. I explore abstract and representational ideas to bring forth the immediacy of issues regarding war, trauma, and loss. Whether political, social, or personal: the objects, images, and events depicted become conduits for obsessive ideas.
I undergo the spiritual process of mourning while commemorating those who have been subject to mayhem, violence, and war. In response to such shocking and traumatic events, I forge the victims’ found remains. Through the use of references, paint, and paint skins I fabricate the individuals and clothing left behind on the day of their massacre.
As a small gesture, I entangle their remains with trinkets, flowers, and photos symbolizing the fragility of their lives and the malleability of remembrance. Covering their brown, grey, and blackened bodies with slivers of fresh cools and radiant reds; fields of color engulf the broad surface with elegance. These events have transformed into memorials that should not be forgotten.
Ultimately, the work generated is made out of adoration towards my family and the love of my people. By embracing these subjects, I allow a visual representation to symbolize the human condition we live in and the issues we face collectively. These paintings not only acknowledge current events, but also allow for each object, image, or event to continue having a presence not only today but also in the future.