Fulgencio Lazo is a warm, thoughtful and generous man, committed to family, community and his work as an artist. He is a prolific, accomplished and respected painter and printmaker whose work continues to be strengthened and informed by the powerful and enduring cultural influences in his life.
Born in Oaxaca, Mexico in 1967, and currently a resident of both Mexico and the U.S., Lazo carries his rich and beautiful heritage close to his heart. As an artist, he embodies a spirited cultural tradition that sustains him wherever he is in the world. In his work, which is bold and lyrical, and packed with visual information, he creates avenues of meaning and understanding, using colors and symbols that ignite the imagination.
The community festival, a regular occurrence throughout Mexico, is both the inspiration for, and the subject of, the most recently completed paintings. The joy and comfort of shared celebration flow from the artistÕs heart and hand, on to the canvas, and then directly into the soul of the viewer. Employing a brilliant palette and a visual vocabulary drawn from personal memory, LazoÕs vibrant, abstracted paintings suggest the elements of a jubilee--bonfires and trumpets, fireworks and processionals, torches and masks, gifts, alters and offerings of food. The iconic images are rendered in arcs of color, pattern and movement, suggesting the music and dance that are essential elements in every Mexican celebration.
But the strength of these paintings resides not only in their dynamic, celebratory imagery. The evocative festival motifs are merely an introduction to the deeper human themes resting beneath the dazzling painted surfaces: the enduring resilience of the family; the karma of generosity; the sacredness of faith; the esteemed place in society for the young and the old; honor, tribute and remembrance; the ancient secular and religious passages and rituals that bring families, neighbors and communities together in a lasting embrace-- these are the true subjects of LazoÕs paintings, and they make an indelible, poignant impact on his audience.
The festival paintings of Fulgencio Lazo are expressive, exciting and memorable, but his work is not simply a sentimental record of traditional events and cultural tenets, for he is a contemporary man traveling regularly between two countries and two social constructs. The influences of modern society make a firm but subtle stand in the work, particularly in the way Lazo depicts women in his paintings. No longer is the festival the domain of the patriarch, where women are charged simply with preparing baskets of food and organizing the festivities from behind the scenes. Lazo frees women from their limited traditional roles, instead bringing them to the forefront of society by giving them the coveted assignment of festival musician. In so doing, he places women in visible positions of leadership, where they can serve as Òspiritual reflectorsÓ for the community. With what may seem like a small gesture, Lazo gently reinforces and promotes equality in contemporary terms.
Last year, I was fortunate to visit Mexico in the company of Fulgencio Lazo and his family, and to see for the first time the warm, gracious and spontaneous spirit of celebration that is the subject of his work. I watched as children and adults of varying generations participated equally in simple daily rituals, meeting and conversing in the narrow streets of Oaxaca and the boulevards of Mexico City, shopping together in open-air markets that are like small, spontaneous festivals unto themselves. I participated in unhurried gatherings that featured food, dance and drink, art and music, and storytelling that brought myth and history together in a magical way. These experiences in Mexico made me long for a legacy of my own that would transcend consumer culture, and offer hope and strength based on a shared cultural memory. The paintings of Fulgencio Lazo build a bridge to such a legacy, which is a generous gift, indeed.
Peggy Weiss
May 2004