OAXACAN ART: THE NEW WAVE

Following the death of Rufino Tamayo in 1991, the chain of command in Oaxacan art was again upset in 2000 with the sad death of Rodolfo Morales from Ocotlán de Morelos, a tireless portrayer of Oaxacan life and feeling. The Oaxacan maestros who remain are Francisco Toledo, Luis Zárate and Sergio Hernández, who share a certain stereotypical imagery that is now being rejected by the most innovative of young Oaxacan painters as they strive for new styles and new directions.

Advanced commercially as well as artistically, young Oaxacans such as Demián Flores, Guillermo Olguín, Soid Pastrana and Luis Enrique Hampshire have spent lengthy periods of study abroad, which has helped to create international markets for their work. Their styles manage to combine modern thought with ancient forms of illustration, and they differ as much from each other as from their elder, supposedly higher-ranking predecessors.