Ángela Gurría
| Ángela Gurría Davó | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 24, 1929 Mexico City |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Known for | sculpture |
Ángela Gurría Davó (born Mexico City, March 24, 1929) is a Mexican sculptor. In 1974, she became the first female member of the Academia de Artes. She is best known for her monumental sculptures such as Señal, an eighteen meter tall work created for the 1968 Summer Olympics. She lives and works in Mexico City.
Gurría was born in Mexico City to a very traditional family from Chiapas. Her father, José María Gurría was very strict, not event allowing his wife to leave the house in Coyoacán without him. He had one boy and four girls with his wife, a situation he wanted to change with more boys. However, Angela was the last of their children.
As a child, she was attracted to the work done by stonemasons near her home and she wanted to become an artist. However, in 1940s Mexico it was nearly impossible for a woman to become a professional sculptor. She began by teaching herself.
As a young woman, she entered the School of Philosophy and Literature at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México as she had thoughts of becoming a writer. However, she decided to return to art after taking a class in modern art given by Justino Fernández.
Despite prejudices against women at the time, she began her art career. In the early 1960s, she traveled to Europe to study and do research in art, spending time in England, Italy and France. Later she spent time in Greece and New York.
Ángela Gurría lives in Mexico City.
Gurría is one of Mexico's most prolific sculptors. She began her career in the 1960s, achieving success and recognition when she dedicated herself to monumental public works in various parts of Mexico.
In 1952, she began to work as an apprentice to sculptor Germán Cueto at Mexico City College, learning from him for six years. Later she worked under Mario Zamora at the foundry of Abraham González and at the workshop of Montiel Blancas. However, it was still difficult for women to be taken seriously as sculptors, so she signed her works with male pseudonyms, Alberto Urría or Angel Urría. This included her bid for her first monumental piece, called La famila obrera, which was done in 1965. When the organizers of the bid found out she was a women, they were surprised and disgusted, as at the time it will still unthinkable for a woman to do such pieces.
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