Luis Jiménez (sculptor)

Luis Jimenez or Luis Jiménezgenesis rocks (July 30, 1940 – June 13, 2006) was a sculptor from the United States of Mexican descent. He was born in El Paso, Texas and died in Hondo, New Mexico. He studied art and architecture at the University of Texas in Austin and El Paso, earning a bachelor's degree in 1964. He became an accomplished artist and taught art at the University of Arizona and later the University of Houston.

Jiménez was known for his large polychromed fiberglass sculptures usually of Southwestern and Hispanic themes. His works were often controversial and eminently recognizable because of their themes and the bright, colorful undulating surfaces that Jiménez employed. In 1998 he received a Distinguished Alumni award from the University of Texas in recognition of his artwork.

He was killed in his studio on June 13, 2006 when a large section of Blue Mustang, intended for Denver International Airport, fell on him and severed an artery in his leg. The sculpture was based on the eight-foot-high sculpture Mesteño (Mustang), now on display at the University of Oklahoma.

Jiménez's daughter Elisa is a multimedia artist and fashion designer and a contestant on Season 4 of Bravo's reality television series Project Runway.[1]

Works

• Vaquero, Moody Park, Houston, Texas, 1981

• Southwest Pieta, Longfellow Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1983 (declared a national treasure by President Bill Clinton in 1999).

• Border Crossing, 10½ feet tall, Santa Fe, New Mexico and Los Angeles, California, 1989.

• Fiesta Jarabe, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

• Blue Mustang, Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado, 2008.

His works can be found in the collections of:

• Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Arizona State University, Nelson Fine Arts Center Tempe, Arizona
• [2] Art Museum of Southeast Texas Beaumont, Texas
• Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
• El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas
• Iowa State University, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Ames, Iowa
• Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
• Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California
• McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Museum of New Mexico, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Plains Art Museum, Fargo, North Dakota
• Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, New Mexico
• Saint Louis University, St. Louis University Museum of Art, Saint Louis, Missouri
• Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
• University of Arizona, Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona
• University of Kansas, Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, Kansas
• University of Oklahoma, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Norman, Oklahoma
• University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• University of Texas at El Paso, Library, El Paso, Texas
• University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas
• Utah Valley University, Woodbury Art Museum Orem, Utah
• Valley National Bank of Arizona, Fine Arts Department, Phoenix, Arizona
• Wichita State University, Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, Kansas
• Numerous private collections

References

• Landis, Moore, et al., "Man on Fire, Luis Jiménez, El Hombre en Llamas, The Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1994
• Storey, Natalie, Artist Dies in Studio Accident, The Santa Fe New Mexican, June 14, 2006, page 1

External links

• Stewart, Jocelyn Y. "Luis Jiménez Jr., 65; Artist Whose Sculptures Are on Public Display Nationwide," Los Angeles Times, Thursday, June 15, 2006.
• Smithsonian American Art Museum biography
• From the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Image of Mesteño, smaller version of the sculpture that killed him.
• Johnson, Kirk. "And Behold a Big Blue Horse? Many in Denver Just Say Neigh," The New York Times, Monday, March 2, 2009.