Artist Andrea Arroyo Honors the Lost Girls of Ciudad Juárez
By Misha McGlown
Andrea Arroyo describes her hometown, Mexico City, as a big city with a lot of contrasts: the convergence of old and new worlds, complex political dynamics, the energy of 20 million people, and social stratification intensified by an ever-transforming economy. At the heart of it all, the astounding presence of Aztec history, lore, and awe-inspiring public art bathe the city in images of beauty, heritage and honor. Arroyo would carry Mexico City — the breadth of its challenges and culture — in her heart when she moved to New York at the age of twenty.
The young woman who left her native country on a scholarship for dance, studying with avant-garde choreographer, Merce Cunningham in New York, now has more than two decades of experience examining notions of gender, race and social justice via the visual arts. She has become known for her vibrant, colorful curves on canvas, informed as much by her background in contemporary dance as her love for the female figure. Along the way, Arroyo has amassed several honors and awards, including being selected by President Bill Clinton to create the Clinton Global Citizen Award.
Two of Arroyo’s important and on-going series include Flor de Vida and Flor de Tierra — parallel bodies of work celebrating women in extraordinarily different ways.
Flor de Vida is a series of paintings paying tribute to strong women in history. Her subjects, including Cleopatra, Frida Kahlo, and Aphrodite, among a long list of others, are drawn from global coffers, antiquity, recent history, mythology, and everyday life. The women are portrayed in Arroyo’s trademark style; characterized by jubilant contours, their triumph and glory crystallized through movement and color.
