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Biography
Visual artist, art curator and ecologist, Maria Luisa de Villa was born and raised in Mexico City. She began making art in the 70’s, interrupting her vocation at intervals to raise her 4 children. In 1986, she received a BFA Honors Degree from York University and in 2000, a MFA Degree from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
She has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Mexico, Canada, USA, China, such as:
2007- 2008- Maria Luisa de Villa, solo, Museo de los Pintores Oaxaqueños,
2007-2008- Trópicos eternos, solo international touring exhibition Mexico-Canada
2002- XXX Festival Internacional Cervantino de Guanajuato and Museo de la Ciudad de México;
2003- solo, Centro Cultural de Sto. Domingo in Oaxaca;
2003 and 1999- solo, Hart House Gallery University of Toronto;
2003- Maison de la Culture Côte-des-Neiges in Montreal;
1996 and 1994- York Quay Gallery Harbourfront Center in Toronto;
1995, 2003, 2004, 2005- National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago
Her work is represented in the public collections of: National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, IAGO Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca, Museo Diego Rivera in Guanajuato, Mexico, Mexican Consulate General in Toronto, Sudbury Board of Education in Ontario and in private collections in Mexico, Canada, USA and Europe.
Considered an original, at times her work, ideas and concepts have influenced other artists. In 1985, she introduced and gradually unfolded the ofrenda art installation concept in Canada into a non traditional ofrenda, stimulating museums to continue with this tradition.
She is a grant and award recipient of The Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Art Council, Toronto Arts Council and York University. In 1971, Maria Luisa was awarded the Hugh Owens Award first prize in drawing and in 1974 and 1975, she was awarded the first and second prize in drawing and painting from the Northern Ontario Art Association. In 1992 and 1993, she received two distinctions of merit from the Spanish Speaking Consular Corps based in Canada for her contribution to the arts and her work in the promotion and diffusion of Mexican art.
In 2006, Maria Luisa received an Ontario Arts Council Professional Artist Award. From 1976 to 1979, she was a faculty member of Cambrian College of Art and Design in Ontario, Canada.
A founding member of various art organizations, Maria Luisa was instrumental in the creation of the CCIE-Canadian Foundation for the Cultural Celebration of The Spanish Language, an international multidisciplinary festival of the arts held every year in Toronto; she is a member of CARFAC-Canadian National Artist Organization and in 1992, she was appointed Canadian correspondent for the Centro de Estudios Guadalupanos de México AC.
She has also worked with public galleries and museums in programming and community involvement in terms of her own concept: “Unfolding and working with the exhibition transforming the museum into a living space.”
At present, Maria Luisa is a research member of CERLAC-Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean, York University, WARC-Women`s Art Resource Centre and ENLACE-Mexican women community link organization in support of Mexican migrant workers in Canada.
Maria Luisa de Villa’s Artist Statement
Maria Luisa’s website: www.marialuisadevilla.com
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