Berta Kolteniuk

Born in Mexico City, 1958. Artist and curator. Started painting at the age of 14th years old. Love music, dance and singing. I grew up in an artistic and intellectual environment, daughter of a Philosophy Professor from the University UNAM, Mexico City. I work on painting, drawing, digital prints and sculpture. Lived 7 years in USA where I saw snow for the first time in my life and started working with plaster as a metaphor for snow. I have a special interest in creating stable colors in oil painting and exploring a great array of hues and tones.

I started showing my work in 1980. Have 16th one person shows and participate in more than 60 group shows in Mexico, USA, Europe and Korea. Also I received an individual artist fellowship from the DC Commission of the Arts and Humanities in Washington DC, and my work is part of their collection. I curate a show there, with contemporary artist from Mexico and DC at the Mexican Cultural Institute. I have several inspirations, artist like Malevich, Rothko, Tapies and also music and films, landscapes and poetry.

I studied Visual Art at the University in Mexico City, UNAM. Later, Digital Imagine at the Corcoran School of Art, in Washington DC. "Antarctica" was the title of my first solo show in the USA, at the Mexican Cultural Institute of San Antonio Texas. "Cold & Warm" was the second show, also at the Mexican Institute in Washington DC, and received a good review, a whole page in the "Washington Post". The changing of the leaves in Autumn in the East Coast of the USA, inspired me to start a research in color, and made me think about the cycles of life. In 1988 I was invited to exhibit my work in London, in an underground gallery. Then I traveled around Europe for about 11 months and exhibited also in Paris. ,