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Mario López

Artist statement
Biography
Exhibitions
Recognitions
Studio

My work balances positive and negative days, joy and sadness, grays and colors. My pieces often depict this combination, representing the ebb and flow of every human being’s daily life. The grays on the skin symbolize negative days: problems, sorrows, and failures—those days and nights when a person stares at the mirror, feeling the urge to abandon their goals and dreams. However, at that moment, an inner voice embraces them, shakes off their fears, and whispers into their ear—into their soul—something that stirs their very bones and thoughts. It says: everything will be all right; the sunrise, with its shades of pink and violet, will herald a new day, a new beginning, where you can see the morning dew bathing the flowers in the fields, the mockingbird singing a hymn of joy to life. Paths kissed by the sun’s genuine light, corn embraced by brown, yellow, and blush. The circle in my work represents each person’s space; as inhabitants of this planet, we must support one another, respecting our opinions and decisions, because we do not know the burden our neighbor carries. Empathy lightens our collective weight in this life.

Mario Abidail López López was born on August 17, 1991, in Finca Oná, El Quetzal, San Marcos, Guatemala. My childhood among the coffee plantations has been one of the greatest gifts life has given me: growing up with sunrises heralded by the song of the zanate and watching the brilliant sunset dance to the tune of the clarinet. I started working on the coffee farm as a child. The morning dew clung to my pants and rubber boots as I followed the foreman’s voice, carrying my machete, hoe, and a bag of tortillas my mother had made for me. My paths were dirt trails winding through the underbrush and among the ants. In winter, they turned into muddy swamps, and those trails became my first canvases, where I drew with my machete, sketching my first creations with chalum branches. The church I attended held a drawing contest, and I won when I was just six years old. My prize was Q 2.00 (two quetzales) and half a dozen plantains. I never studied art formally; however, I do not consider myself a self-taught artist, since my teachers from a young age were nature and my experiences.

International Exhibitions

2025, Bruit de Gommettes, International Exhibition, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France
2023, Psicología del Arte, Pinoteca Roque Dalton, Universidad de El Salvador

Solo Exhibitions

2023, La Orden del Jaguar, Secretaría de Integración Económica Centroamericana (SIECA), Guatemala City
2023, Solo Exhibition, Secretaría de Integración Económica Centroamericana (SIECA), Guatemala City
2021, Galería Enrique Cay, Fontabella, Guatemala City

Selected Group Exhibitions

2026, LANDS Museum and Gallery, Quetzaltenango
2025, Puertas Abiertas al Arte (European Union), Palacio Nacional de la Cultura, Guatemala City
2025, Puertas Abiertas al Arte (European Union), Universidad Popular, Guatemala City
2025, JUNKABAL Art Collective, ANACAFÉ, Guatemala City
2025, Galería Abierta, Guatemala City
2024, Perspectivas de Pueblos Indígenas (European Union), Guatemala
2024, Exposición Margarita Tejada EXPO 11, Museo Ixchel, Guatemala City
2024, Central American Art Exhibition, Sustancia Natural
2023, Trazos de Luz, FUNDAL, Museo Miraflores, Guatemala City
2022, El Retrato en el Occidente, tribute to masters Ernesto Boesche and Marvin Olivares, Centro Cultural Efraín Recinos, Quetzaltenango

2026, First Prize, Master Category, "Ernesto Boesche" National Painting Competition, Salamá, Baja Verapaz
2026, First Place, National Oil Painting Competition, San Juan Comalapa, Chimaltenango
2026, Recognition for Artistic Career, Secretaría de Integración Económica Centroamericana (SIECA)
2025, Tribute for Artistic Career, Teatro Municipal de Quetzaltenango
2025, Recognition for Outstanding Contribution to Guatemalan Art and Culture, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala
2025, Featured in Puertas Abiertas al Arte, European Union Guatemala publication
2024, Named Painter of Peace, Heavenly Culture, World Peace Restoration of Light (HWPL)
2024, Boesche Rizo Prize, National Painting Competition, Salamá, Baja Verapaz
2023, Plaque for the mural Centroamérica en Nuestras Manos, created at SIECA on its 62nd anniversary
2023, Honorable Mention, International Competition, Psychology of Art, Pinoteca Roque Dalton, Universidad de El Salvador
2022, First Place, National Painting Competition, Totonicapán