October 1989, Mexico
Chantal Meza is a self-taught abstract painter living and working in the United Kingdom.
Her home environment placed her amongst many local stone Artisans whose unique regional skills date back to the pre-Hispanic period. With direct family participation Chantal has incorporated this knowledge into her paintings, including the direct use of hands as a medium of human sensorial creation. The crossover between the old artisan techniques and Chantal’s self-taught methods represents both a marriage and a visual memory of experience that allows her to connect the abstract with the tangibility of life.
Materials such as Marble and Onyx are seeded into Chantal’s subconscious memories and have been the base for the creation of her own natural abstract Self-scapes. Oils, Stones, Watercolours, Charcoals and Inks are some of the materials she has taken to focus on the human psyche as seen through the prism of colour.
She has found in Abstraction a language that through its gestures she is able to present her concerns around the political-scientific sphere and those shifting powers. Her challenge as such remains how to express the abstract in thought.
Her works have been Exhibited in more than 30 group and Individual Exhibitions in prominent Museums and Galleries in Mexico, Paraguay and the United Kingdom such as: Chiapas Museum of Science and Technology, Mexico; National Art Museum, Mexico; Centro Cultural Juan de Salazar, Paraguay; Museum of Modern Art, Mexico; Ashcroft Art Centre, United Kingdom; Watercolour National Museum, Mexico; Arocena Museum, Coahuila; Cultural Center Tijuana, Tijuana; Arroyo de la Plata Gallery, Zacatecas; Popular Art Museum, Mexico; Guadalupe Museum, Zacatecas; Pape Museum, Cohauila; University Cultural Complex, Puebla; among others. She has also been commissioned to produce Public works, Interventions, while providing requested Donations of works to Institutions and Non-governmental Organisations. As part of the study of the subjects she is interested in she has delivered Lectures, Seminars and Panels at reputable places such as: Harvard University (USA), École Normale Superiéure (Paris), McMaster University, (Canada), Goethe Universität (Germany), Centre for Mexican Studies (Ireland) among others. She has written a number of Academic Articles in prominent Theory, Culture and Educational practice Journals, and she is currently co-curating a book titled “State of Disappearance” to be published in 2023 with McGill-Queens University Press.
Having presented her work in an individual curated exhibition at the age of 20, since then Chantal has received considerable acclaim.
Among her recent achievements includes a notable Public Recognition for her contribution to Culture in her province in Mexico and the publication of her work in a number of prominent International Media Outlets, including La Jornada, ArtLyst, Trebuchet, W&F Science & Peace, LA Review of Books, The Philosopher as well as digital and print magazines, along with appearing on the covers of numerous books.
More recently, her Solo Show "State of Disappearance" has been supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. The Exhibition Launch will take place at Centerspace Gallery in the United Kingdom.
For Chantal 'the shape of the abstract senses' remains a primary concern, as it gestures to what remains within and yet seems ungraspable. In her work a constant realisation remains, that in which what we are is never enough, perhaps too unreal that most of our intended actions are kept in the realm of the imagination. Mindful of this, she is confronted with a dilemma; showing how an abstract sensibility is all we could fleetingly possess. In this regard, Chantal’s range of work offers visual dynamic confrontations, tapping into the complexity of the human condition. In a world dominated by Science and Technology, her paintings have become a mediation between the mystery and the unknown, letting her hands to become the bridge that transmits the inner most feelings to the external world.
@Karl Baker
As someone who believes in the art of life. Chantal co-creates in this world with her soulmate, the Political Philosopher Brad Evans, who inspires her to live as a constant explosion of shapes.