Painting: Martha Eagle, Oil, 1974-75, Okla. City, OK Maria de la Jeune, Oil, 1977-79, Okla. City, OK David Leffel, Life drawing, 1982, Okla. City, OK Arnie Anderson, 1980, Watercolor, CSU, Edmond, OK. Printmaking: Ron Pokrasso, monoprint, 1993, Santa Fe, NM Manuel Rodrigues, Bellas Artes, 2007, San Miguel de Allende, MX Gilberto Guerrero Sanchez, Bellas Artes, 2007, San Miguel, MX Dreamwork: Ann Yeomans, MA LPCC, 1994-96 Galisteo, NM Writing: Joan Logghe, 2002, Santa Fe, NM Barbara Rockman, 2003, Santa Fe, NM Hollis Walker, 2001-02, Santa Fe, NM Bookarts: Carol Tyroler, 2003, SFCC, Santa Fe, NM
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2017
Hilos, Casa de La Enseñaza, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mx.
2016
Hilos, El Nigromante Bellas Artes, San Miguel de Allende, Gto, Mx
2014
Huipiles / Homenajes, Hotel Casa Santo Domingo, Antigua, Guatemala
Huipiles Contemporaneos, Museo Ixchel, Guatemala Huipiles Contemporaneos, Casa de Cultura Andres Henestrosa, Oaxaca, Oaxaca
2013 Como Agua de Mayo, Galeria6, Mineral de Pozos, Gto,MX The Huipil; A Revisioning, Happenings Gallery, San Miguel de Allende, Gto
2010 Welcome Exhibition, Magenta Gallery, San Miguel de Allende, Gto,MX
2009 Mensajes Guardados, Galeria6, Mineral de Pozos, Gto,MX Enigmas, Sol y Luna Contemporary, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.MX
2008 La Noche Verde, Sol y Luna Contemporary, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, MX Silencio y Otros Sueños, El Museo de la Ciudad, Queretaro, Qro, MX Otros Sueños / Other Dreams, Lena Bartula Studio, Pozos, Gto,MX
2007 El Silencio: Homenaje a Sor Juana, El Museo Indumentaria, el Claustro de Sor Juana, MX, D.F. From Here to There, Carole’s Design Studio, Knoxville, TN, US The Color of Words, Sol y Luna Galeria, Puerto Vallarta, Jal., MX
2006 Homage to Sor Juana, Lena Bartula Studio, Mineral de Pozos, Gto, MX Talking Pictures, Teatro Santa Ana, San Miguel de Allende,Gto, MX Un Poco de Todo, Lena Bartula Studio, Mineral de Pozos, Gto, MX Visions and Variations, A Muse Gallery, Columbus, Ohio, US Adelante!, Galeria Magnol, Punta Mita, Nayarit, MX
2005 Spanish Lesson, Lena Bartula Studio Gallery, Mineral de Pozos, Gto,MX
2004 Ambos Lados, Galeria Izamal, San Miguel de Allende, Gto, MX Full Circle, Crossroads Contemporary, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US
2003 Segni di Luce, Circolo Filologico, Milanese Milan, IT La Mezcla Poetica, Buchanan Gallery, Galveston, Texas, US
2002 La Mezcla Poetica, Guadalupe Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US The Air Between Notes, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, US
2001 The Journey, Guadalupe Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US Memoires d'un futur voyage," Charite Ste.Eutrope, Gordes, Provence, FR
2000 Ceremony, Guadalupe Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US
1999 Anamnesis, Guadalupe Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US
1998 Between the Lines, Guadalupe Fine Art ,Santa Fe, New Mexico, US 1997 Earth and Spirit, Guadalupe Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US
1996 Dreams and Visions, Off the Wall, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US
1995 Leftover Dreams, Harry's Roadhouse, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US
1994 Recent Paintings, Cafe Romana, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US
1993 Woman Stories, Amuze Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2017, Gendercide Awareness Project, Fashion Industry Gallery, Dallas, Tx. USA
2016, Armoniaás en Oposición, con Alberto Lenz, Berlin Bar, San Miguel de Allende, Gto, Mx
Art As Catalyst, Moving Beyond Capitalism Conferenece, San Miguel de Allende, Gto, Mx
2013
Alma de Carton, Museo la Esquina, San Miguel de Allende, Gto, Mx Art and Soles,Marilo Carral Espacio, San Miguel de Allende, Gto, Mx
2011 Parallel Journeys, 2-person, Arte y Diseno, Mineral de Pozos, Gto, MX
2010
NOW Revolución, Galeria 6, Mineral de Pozos, Gto, MX Summer Season Inauguration, Galeria Casa Diana, San Miguel de Allende, Gto, Mx Arte en San Miguell II, Galeria Pergola, San Miguel de Allende, Gto, Mx
2009 Rompiendo el Cristal, colectivo de imagina2009, Pinto Gallery, Instituto Allende, San Miguel, Gto, MX Illumine, 2-person show, the TORSOS series, Arthaus66, Albuquerque, NM, US "Fibras de la Vida" 3-person show, Galeria 6, Mineral de Pozos, Gto, MX
2008 Con Amore, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Sol y Luna Contemporary, Puerto Vallarta,Jal.,MX Gran Venta de Grabados, Bellas Artes, San Miguel de Allende, Gto, MX International Artists, A Muse Gallery, Columbus, OH,US
2007 Corazon, El Palacio Legislativo, Xalapa, Veracruz, MX Miniatures, A Muse Gallery, Columbus, Ohio, US Recent Works, 2-person show, A Muse Gallery Columbus, Ohio, US
2006 A Celebration of Light, Galeria Sol y Luna, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, MX
2005 Celebrando el Dia Internacional de la Mujer, Museo Gene Byron, Marfil, Guanajuato, MX
2004 Insight Out, Curator:Mary Bennett, Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US Santa Fe/San Diego Joint Exhibition, San Diego, CA & Santa Fe, NM, US
2003 Mark My Words; Text in Visual Art, Magnifico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, US See-Worthy; Boats and Vessels, UNM Gallery ,Marquette, Michigan, US
2002 Word, Text and Story, Sangre de Cristo Art Ctr., Pueblo, Colorado, US The Poetry of Women, A Muse Gallery, Columbus, OH, US Mail Art, Mira Costa College, Oceanside, CA, US Point and Counterpoint, Bosque Gallery, Corrales, NM, US
2001 Spirited Wanderings: santa fe art at the threshold, Marquette, MI, US
2000 The Cup Show, Segreto Contemporary, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US Landscapes, Canyon Road Contemporary, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US
1999 The Cup Show, Karan Ruhlen Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US
1998 Monothon 12, Site Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US Voices and Visions, Santa Fe and Las Cruces,NM, US A Show With Heart, Robins-Hyder, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US
1997 Madonna, The Modern Matriarch, Karan Ruhlen, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US A Celebration of Trees, State Capitol, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US Ladies of the Night, Guadalupe Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US
1996 Nuestra Senora II; Traditional Visions, Govr's Gallery, Santa Fe New Mexico, US Death and Transformation, Guadalupe Fine Art, Santa Fe New Mexico, US Earthbound Madonna, Zaplin-Lampert, Santa Fe New Mexico, US
1995 Nuestra Senora, Copeland Rutherford, Santa Fe New Mexico, US Night Visions;Women & Their Dreams, HahnRoss ,Santa Fe, New Mexico, US El Mundo Del Arte, Palacio del Gobierno, Guadalajara, Jalisco, MX
1993 Visions of Excellence, Fine Arts Gallery, Albuquerque New Mexico, US Wild Woman Invitational,"The Opening Scene, Taos New Mexico, US
2009 Video presentation, "Mensajes Proyectados", Galeria 6,Mineral de Pozos, Gto, MX AudioVisual presentation, "Women's Blouses, Women's Histories", Int'l Women's Day,Biblioteca Publica, San Miguel, MX Audio/visual presentation, "Huipil As Enigma", Biblioteca los Mangos, Puerto Vallarta, Jal., MX 2008 Slide Presentation and Artist Talk, Cuale Centro de Cultura, Puerto Vallarta, Jal, MX 2007 “The Creative Journey,” Slide presentation,Teatro de Santa Ana, San Miguel de Allende, Gto., MX Reading, “Works in Progress,” Authors’ Sala, San Franciso Hotel, San Miguel de Allende, Gto, MX 2004 “Write Into Art,” Art and poetry workshops with Barbara Rockman, Santa Fe, NM 2003 “Signs& Symbols; A Ten-Year Retrospective,” Southwestern College, Santa Fe, NM “Women Poets; On Compassion,” reading at The Awakening Museum, Santa Fe, NM Tribes Coffeehouse, reading with WordDancers, Santa Fe, NM 2002 “La Mezcla Poetica” reading and performance w/ Matthew Andre, Santa Fe, NM ''Guadalupe: La Diosa Sin Fronteras, '' Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM 'Guadalupe: La Diosa Sin Fronteras,'' Goddess GATE, Anglican Center, Mexico City 2001 Curator's Talk, “Spirited Wanderings,” Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI "The Artist's Journey; Premise and Process," Guadalupe Fine Art, Santa Fe Gallery Talk, Santa Fe Conference on The Matriarchal Aesthetic," Union Institute. 2000 "Guadalupe: Our Mythical Mother," Spiritual Traditions of the Southwest, Ghost Ranch,Abiquiu, NM "A Dialogue Among Peers," Santa Fe Council for the Arts, Bishops Lodge, Tesuque, NM Gallery Talk, Santa Fe Conference on The Matriarchal Aesthetic" for the Union Institute,Cincinnati, OH 1999 "Guadalupe: A Myth for the Millennuium," EarthWalks , Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu , NM 1998 Curator's Talk, “Art at the Abbey,” Pecos Monastery Gallery, Pecos, NM "Art & the Healing Process," EarthWalks, Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM "A Dialog Among Peers," Slide Presentation, Inn at Loreto, Santa Fe, NM
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS:
Capitol Art Collection, Santa Fe, NM El Museo Cultural, Santa Fe, NM Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM Esperanza Womens’ Shelter, Santa Fe, NM Leadership Medica, Milan, IT
SELECTED COLLECTORS LIST: Rosalba Ando / Artigianando, Milan, IT Michael Prowda, Owings Mill, MA, US Mat and Rika Mar, Oregon, USA Nick Hamblen, Dallas TX and Pozos, Gto, MX Jacqui and John Smalley, Boulder, CO, US Terry A. Tomlinson, San Miguel, MX and NY,NY Jose Pelayo / LebenswerkM, Puerto Vallarta, Jal. MX Posada de las Minas, Pozos, Gto, MX Cynthia Sanchez and Mike Perraglio, Santa Fe, NM, US Jorge Oti, DDS, Santa Fe, NM, USA Karen and Bob Onderko, NY, NY, USA Carol Marvin, Dallas, TX, USA Damien Lievois, Lyons, FR Gilles Simon, Cedex,FR Morris Berman, MX Liz Lanier, Albuquerque, NM Mexico Advisor, Portland, OR Cynthia DaCosta, Santa Fe, NM Charles and Marjean Cole, Tulsa, OK, US Christopher Billerey, Old Greenwich, CT, US Pat Bailey, Santa Fe, NM Jonathan Guttell and Lisa Ansin, Austin, TX, US
BIOGRAPHY
A visual artist for more than thirty-five years, Lena Bartula moved from Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2004 to Mexico, where she lives and works full time in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. Her repertoire includes painting, installation, printmaking, constructions, book arts and mixed media. Her art often combines imagery and pattern, textured layers, and words or letters in English or Spanish, inspired by her own poetry or that of other writers. The huipil, an indigenous blouse in the Mesoamerican tradition, called her attention to the ‘why’ of writing one’s personal and collective history in symbols. Out of this was born a series of contemporary huipils, a tribute to women whose voices and visions have historically been silenced or suppressed. As a conceptual artist, she creates most of her work from an original idea, and after much deliberation and research, chooses her materials and techniques accordingly. The relationship of words, like text and textile, are instrumental in formulating ideas, and although technically she is neither weaver nor papermaker, these traditional crafts play a major role in her work on this series. Sewing has become a method of ‘weaving together’ ideas, and Bartula has been known to stitch disparate materials such as leaves, maps, plastic and cornhusks.
She considers art-making as a way to speak of beauty, truth, spirit, joy, pain, justice, everything that this human life entails. Her works are shown in museums and galleries, in her San Miguel studio/gallery, and are found in collections in France, Italy, U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and Mexico.
TESTIMONIALS:
"Tener la posibilidad de integrarse a alguna de las obras de Lena Bartula, es hacerse de un prueba de la eterna guerra humana de opresión y libertad, pero visto de una forma en la que pareciera que el ser humano, en sus tradiciónes, en sus hábitos y costumbres, suele libertarse cotidianamente de su atadura..." - Marcelo Leos, Guanajuato, Gto, Mx
"An artistic experience, a political experience, and - perhaps most of all - a spiritual experience.... Lena as touched the deep universal soul." - Collette Sell, San Francisco, CA "Descubrir un lenguaje distinto en las artes plasticas es muy satisfactorio." - Guille Garcia, Queretaro, Qro, Mx
"Bartula recreates the cruelty, the ugliness of gender inequality and discrimination even as she shrouds them in beautiful garments made of recycled materials." -Cristina Clarimon, Albuquerque, NM
"Me reconocimiento al ingenio, creatividad, entusiamo y buen
gusto. Espero que otros instituciones y grupos sigan su
exemplo." - Dra. Alicia Quiroz, UNAM, Mexico City
“Her imaginative paintings talk directly to the viewer’s
emotions; they whisper to your inner self’s ear.” –Ambito Press, Puerto
Vallarta
“Bartula's message finds a complimentary vehicle in the mute,
timeless beauty of her medium... she achieves an intriguing
seamlessness between her subject and its physical expression.” -
Santa Fe Reporter
“Like a waking dream, Bartula’s work dances along the fine line
of blurred consciousness; her symbols resonate, touching the viewer’s
sacred spaces.” - Richard Garriott-Stejskal, Albuquerque Arts
“The studio where Bartula works suggests a chapel. Her take
on ceremony may lead you to ask a lot of questions - about faith,
religion, joy, life and hope. Bartula is not offering answers but her
pieces present a realistic look at all those subjects in that the
paintings embrace both dark and light."
-Robert Nott, Pasatiempo, Santa Fe, NM
“ Lena's work is the result of a sacred quest imbued with
symbolic and spiritual significance. Her textures are rich; the light
is luminous and full of energy. The process of creating becomes a
giving experience, a trust, and a faith. It is intuitive and
reverent.”- Virginia K. Freyermuth, /Art Educator, Plymouth, MA
“If it is true that the only reality is psychic reality, then we
saw it in this woman. She lives close to her guts, stays sensitive to
the non-literal, appreciates the 'slender threads' that inform one's
path.”'
- Sally Mayo, Clinical Psychologist, Barington, RI
“One of the high points of our stay in Santa Fe….The theme of
human life as a voyage ran through all (Bartula's) paintings and other
art objects, and we could see, firsthand, the net result of a woman's
open connection with a matriarchal muse.”- Richard Booth,” Creativity
and Spirituality Conference, Santa Fe, NM
“Lena Bartula is a superb and insightful artist whose work brings
a powerful inner message to the viewer, it is mystical, powerful and
evocative. - Douglas Conwell, Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM