GUATEMALAN MAYAN ARTIST ANIBAL LÓPEZ DIED
Born to a Maya family from San Marcos on April 13, 1964, López had to fend for himself very early and his studies ended in middle school. Migrating illegally to the U.S., he took jobs as a workman before returning to Guatemala and enrolling in the National School of Plastic Arts (ENAP). López won the Paiz Biennial Art Exhibition in 1994 and 1996. He then won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennial for 2000 with demonstrational protest art involving boot tracks of a military parade captured in charcoal–these were the forces who carried out Guatemalan massacres. His art attacked the moral values of Guatemalan society. The Dinner (2000) involves a beggar having a meal during the October Festival, served by a waiter from Altuna restaurant. In Lacandon (2006), an Indigenous man poses for a full day as if an object on display, next to a placard explaining what a Lacandon Indian is. In 2008, after family tragedies, López plunged into alcohol addiction and his health and art began to deteriorate.
Source: Sebastion Escalon (Plaza Publica), "Aníbal López." Despacio. Retrieved 7/14/2019, http://despacio.cr/event/anibal-lopez Map: Daryona, 10/26/2009. Map of Guatemala. Permissive use pursuant to Creative Commons 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/nl/deed.en. Modification (addition of star) by R. J. Sheehan.
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