Keep Contemporary presents
Milka Lolo and Fran De Anda : BESTIARY
Bestiary
Milka LoLo and Fran De Anda Art Show.
In this exhibition, the artists present a series of works that take the concept of Bestiary as their
axis; a sort of catalog of imaginary creatures and beliefs inherited from paganism and that
many believed to exist in parallel to reality, where seeing and touching these beings was
possible thanks to the existence of a world populated by magical and at the same time
terrifying creatures.
Starting from a Greco-Roman heritage, the period of the Middle Ages can be mentioned as a
fertile environment for these compilations of strange beings, who lived in distant lands where,
thanks to the discoveries of new territories, they sparked people’s imagination when they
learned about the wonders and mysteries of “those new worlds.”
Bestiary is the interpretation of two visions of artists Milka LoLo and Fran De Anda; who with
their works dialogue with magic, legend and the fantastic, elements that inhabit the imagination
of myth.The Exhibition is composed of eighteen pieces; ten pieces by the artist Milka Lolo in
mixed media (Acrylic, collage and gold leaf on paper), and 8 Pieces by the Artist Fran De Anda made in oil and gold and silver leaf on canvas and wood
Milka Lolo
BIO
Milka Lolo was born in Mexico City. She has shown since a very early age to have very strong artistic inclinations. Beginning as a self-taught artist, she continued her studies at Academia de San Carlos where she attended workshops on the technique of pictorial materials, ceramic sculpture, engraved, and drawing.
Then she decided to continue her own research away from the academic environment which allows her to explore different artistic approaches and develop a very unique pictorial language.
The characters of the Mexican folktales that she heard eagerly as a child became the main subjects of her paintings. Creating, at last, a style of its own and a contemporary aesthetic proposal that has earned collectors around the world. She has presented her work in many group exhibitions not only in Mexico but also in the United States.
STATEMENT
My work consists of the re-interpretation of characters, myths, and narrations of the Mexican folk imaginary. These narratives are presented as a living manifestation of an ancestral culture, which has been transformed as it has integrated into a globalized society.
In my work, I recreate the process of cultural miscegenation by incorporating elements and universal concepts to the myths and legends of the Mexican tradition. While I create a contemporary version of them, which allows them to remain valid in the collective memory and, at the same time, generate an own aesthetic, with a metaphorical language based on referents such as surrealism, symbolism, magical realism, artistic illustration, fantastic art, and indigenous art.
The aesthetic discourse of my work starts from the manifestations and artistic expressions that the human being creates in response to his concern about his origin and place in the world.
Through experimentation and application of traditional techniques together with the most recent materials, I emphasized the importance of syncretism, which gives form and character to our contemporary identity.
Fran de Anda
Fran De Anda lives and works in Mexico City. In his work he touches on themes related to the human condition. Based on ancient myths and archetypes, he develops concepts such as transformation, death, alchemy, the sacred and the profane. Having a strong connection with ancient art, it takes up elements of the Renaissance, the Baroque and symbolism. Through the use of traditional pictorial techniques such as grinding his own pigments, and the use of tempera, oil, silver and gold leaf, he develops an interpretation of the mysterious and sacred in man and his relationship with nature within a mystical-symbolic vision.
