Luis Jiménez (sculptor)

Luis Jimenez or Luis Jiménez (July 30 1940 – June 13 2006) was a sculptor from the United States. He was born in El Paso, Texas and died in Hondo, New Mexico. He studied art and architecture at the University of Texas in Austin, earning a bachelor's degree in 1964. He became an accomplished artist and taught art at the University of Houston.

Jiménez was known for his large polychromed fiberglass sculptures usually of Southwestern and Hispanic themes. His works were often controversial and eminently recognizable because of their themes and the bright, colorful undulating surfaces that Jiménez employed. In 1998 he received a Distinguished Alumni award from the University of Texas in recognition of his artwork.

He was killed on June 13, 2006, in his studio when a large piece, a mustang intended for Denver International Airport, fell on him severing an artery in his leg. The sculpture was based on the eight-foot-high sculpture "Mesteño" ("Mustang"), now on display at the University of Oklahoma.

Jiménez's daughter Elisa is a multimedia artist and fashion designer and a contestant on Season 4 of Bravo's reality television series series Project Runway. [http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/season/4/bios/index.php?cat=designer&p=elisa]

Works

*"Vaquero", Moody Park, Houston, Texas, 1981

*"Southwest Pieta", Longfellow Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1983 (declared a national treasure by President Bill Clinton in 1999).

*"Border Crossing", 10 ½ feet tall, Santa Fe, New Mexico and Los Angeles, California, 1989.

*"Fiesta Jarabe", Colorado Springs, Colorado.

*"Mustang", Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado, 2008.

His works can be found in the collections of:
*Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico
*Arizona State University, Nelson Fine Arts Center Tempe, Arizona
* [http://www.amset.org] Art Museum of Southeast Texas Beaumont, Texas
*Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
*El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas
*Iowa State University, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Ames, Iowa
*Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
*Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California
*McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada
*Museum of New Mexico, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico
*Plains Art Museum, Fargo, North Dakota
*Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, New Mexico
*Saint Louis University, St. Louis University Museum of Art, Saint Louis, Missouri
*Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
*University of Arizona, Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona
*University of Kansas, Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, Kansas
*University of Oklahoma, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Norman, Oklahoma
*University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
*University of Texas at El Paso, Library, El Paso, Texas
*University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas
*Utah Valley University, Woodbury Art Museum Orem, Utah
*Valley National Bank of Arizona, Fine Arts Department, Phoenix, Arizona
*Wichita State University, Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, Kansas
*Numerous private collections

Gallery

References

*Landis, Moore, et al, "Man on Fire, Luis Jiménez, El Hombre en Llamas", The Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1994
*Storey, Natalie, "Artist Dies in Studio Accident," The Santa Fe New Mexican, June 14, 2006, page 1

External links

* [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-jimenez15jun15,1,276317.story Obituary] (LA Times, June 15, 2006)
* [http://americanart.si.edu/search/artist_bio.cfm?ID=2459 Smithsonian American Art Museum biography]
* [http://www.ou.edu/fjjma/collections/contemporary/jimenez_mesteno.html From the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art] Image of "Mesteño", smaller version of the sculpture that killed him