Felipe Castañeda
Mexican, b. 1933
A prominent Mexican artist of his generation, sculptor Felipe Castañeda is celebrated for his masterful carvings in onyx, marble, and bronze. Castañeda studied at Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts, graduating in 1963, and worked as an assistant to Francisco Zúñiga, who was in turn influenced by Auguste Rodin. Castañeda often returns to themes around women and the female body; pregnancy and maternal motifs, as well as nude figures, are his most common subjects. Castañeda frequently references pre-Columbian artifacts, prevalent in the state of Michoacán, where he was born. Meanwhile, his fascination with sensual beauty and the perfect proportions of his figures aligns his aesthetic with Classical Greco-Roman sculpture.
Artist statement
The human body is the most perfect form in nature. My work is an attempt to understand it, to honor it, and to find within it the universal.
