Francisco Toledo

Born 1940 in Juchitán de Zaragoza, Mexico
Died 2019 in Oaxaca, Mexico

Art Gallery of New South Wales

El encuentro (The encounter) 1987
gouache on paper
Courtesy of Galería de Arte Mexicano

Serie Insectos o 1998
mixed media on paper
Private collection
Courtesy of Galería López Quiroga, México

Dos muertes con Tortuga 1989
mixed media on paper
Private collection
Courtesy of Galería López Quiroga, México

Mas allá (Beyond) 2003
pastel and ink on paper
Courtesy of Galería de Arte Mexicano

Cuatro figuras 1984
mixed media on paper
Private collection
Courtesy of Galería López Quiroga, México

Escorpiones en formación 1988
mixed media on paper
Private collection
Courtesy of Galería López Quiroga, México

Orejas (Ears) 2015
from the series Duelo (Mourning)
high-temperature ceramic
Courtesy of Francisco Toledo AC

El profesor de lenguas (Autorretrato pentagramático) (The language professor, pentagrammatical self-portrait) 1987
gouache on paper
Courtesy of Galería de Arte Mexicano

Serie Soles XII 2006
mineral and mixed mica on paper
Private collection
Courtesy of Galería López Quiroga, México

Autorretrato con chapulín (Self-portrait with grasshopper) 1989
oil on canvas and wood
Private collection
Courtesy of Galería López Quiroga, México

Sapo con mirada roja (Toad with red gaze) 2003
oil on canvas
Courtesy of Galería de Arte Mexicano

Animal ca 1965
mixed media on paper
Private collection
Courtesy of Galería López Quiroga, México

El cocodrilo descansando con bastón 2018
etching, ink on paper
Courtesy of Francisco Toledo AC

Cabeza con cangrejo (Head with crab) 1984
mixed media on paper
Private collection
Courtesy of Galería López Quiroga, México

Muerte con sapo 1989
mixed media on paper
Private collection
Courtesy of Galería López Quiroga, México

Sin título (untitled) 2015
from the series Duelo (Mourning)
high-temperature ceramic
Courtesy of Francisco Toledo AC

Serie Soles VIII 2006
mineral and mixed mica on paper
Private collection
Courtesy of Galería López Quiroga, México

Azul con soles 2006
paste, wax thread with gold and mica mineral on paper
Courtesy of Francisco Toledo AC

Títulos Primordiales de Juchitán 1990
encaustic on woven amate
Private collection
Courtesy of Galería López Quiroga, México

Chac – mool – es 2019
mixed media collage on paper
Courtesy of Francisco Toledo AC

El misterio del frijol saltarín 2014
mixed media collage on paper
Courtesy of Francisco Toledo AC

Serie Soles IX 2006
mineral and mixed mica on paper
Private collection
Courtesy of Galería López Quiroga, México

Sin título (untitled) 2015
Sin título (untitled) 2015
Sin título (untitled) 2015
Sin título (untitled) 2015

from the series Duelo (Mourning)
high-temperature ceramic

Presentation at the 24th Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from a grant from Open Society Foundations
Courtesy of Francisco Toledo AC

Remembered as ‘El Maestro’, Francisco Toledo was both a master artist and an advocate for the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Having studied art in Mexico City, he spent five prolific years in Europe from 1960 to 1965 before returning to Oaxaca, then considered a hub of Indigenous languages and cultures. Toledo went on to establish a series of cultural organisations – from libraries and galleries to publishing houses – in celebration of local Indigenous cultures.

Melding the aesthetic of modernism with Indigenous Mexican traditions, Toledo’s work depicts the Oaxacan fables and legends central to his Zapotec identity. Populated with toads, bats, crocodiles and Mexican jumping beans, Toledo’s paintings are shamanistic, wherein people are transformed into beasts and animals adopt human characteristics. This notion is embodied by the folk figure of the nagual – a shapeshifting being whose human and animal selves intertwine.

In 2014, 43 predominantly Indigenous students from Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College in the city of Iguala, Guerrero, disappeared. It remains unknown what happened to the students, although it is widely believed the Mexican government actively impeded investigations into the incident. At a time when state-sanctioned violence across Mexico was ascendant, the loss of these young people was profound. Within a year, Toledo produced a series of confronting, red-stained ceramics as an entreaty against government corruption (a selection is shown here). The series appears much like a group of ancient artefacts, their message of grief and frustration as undeniable as the cultural force of their creator.

Francisco Toledo (1940-2019), born in Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico, was a painter and engraver who drew inspiration from his native culture and mythology. Toledo worked in a variety of media, including pottery, sculpture, weaving, graphic arts, and painting, depicting a vast menagerie of real and fantastical animals. Toledo immersed himself in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region, studying its language, art, and traditions. He championed its culture and causes, founding several institutions such as the House of Culture of Juchitan (1972), the El Pochote film club (1992), the Centro Manuel Álvarez Bravo Photographic Center (1996), and the San Agustin Etla Arts Center (2006).

Read more about the 24th Biennale of Sydney, Ten Thousand Suns, by purchasing the catalogue here.