ALBERTO CERRITOS
Eco global - mural- Tlaxcala, Mexico
PROFILE
My passion for intense colors and bold forms derives from the sunbathed tropical lands of Central America. It was in El Salvador, country of my birth where I learned to play in the clay and mud of Ilobasco, a small town I would go visit as a child to see my grandmother Esther. It was there amidst the Easter festivities that I as a young artist and master of my own universe would create designs of colorful and elaborately detailed sawdust artworks that commemorate a strong Salvadoran tradition.
When I first arrived at art school at the tender age of thirteen, I remember that my excitement was translated in every paper I could find and put colour to. My life as an artist then is profoundly linked to my childhood memories and the passionate idealism of my youth. When I graduated from art school in 1970 I also wanted to change the unjust and unfair world inexorably filled with cruelty that was developing right in front of my eyes as a crude and daily ritual of reality. The history of my imagery is a portrayal and a vivid account where the meaning of love, the essence of women and maternity itself, combine incessantly with the tempestuous fury of the times of oppression, misery, violence and war of my country of origin, as well as its posterior sequel which has marked the destiny of millions of beings… and our lives forever.
When I immigrated from El Salvador to Mexico, "My Magic Mother", where I lived from 1980 to 1989, my conception of the artistic world changed forever. Mexico with its people, solidarity, culture and traditions enriched my view of art as a practice where ethics and aesthetics live in harmony, rhythm and melody with our own actions in the world. I was accompanied by Mexican Maestros during many years of agony, anxiety and despair; with their peculiar perspective and criticism of the arts and life, they strengthened my vision of art as a commitment to humanity.
In 1989 I left Mexico and arrived in Canada, a country that has taught me the grandeur and greatness of nature. Canadian society has also gifted me with the invaluable experience of multiculturalism which has expanded and enriched not only my artistic praxis but also my life in general. Community and multiculturalism have therefore become two fundamental pillars in my path as a visual artist. Also, since 1996, I have had access to digital technology which has marked my work and renewed my creative plasticity.
This website shows the influence of El Salvador, Mexico and Canada in my quotidian imagination, vision and creativity.