Born in San Pedro La Laguna, in Sololá Department, Guatemala, Antonio Pichillá Quiacaín is a Tz’utujil Maya artist. He lives and works in his hometown on the shores of Lake Atitlán. Articulating a composite and complex language in each of his creations, his work may be described as a dynamic exercise in the creation, deconstruction, deformation/intervention, representation, and interpretation of his Tz’utujil world. His works possess the quality and possibility of dialogue with and between "others" – between the languages of many worlds and their stories of being and of existing. Pichillá Quiacaín's art is a continuous invitation to reflect, as many of his works observe and analyze reality peculiarly through irony and sarcasm. They also challenge ideas and suggest paths of relearning that call attention to and deconstruct the individual and collective certainties that are often regurgitated uncritically in the myriad daily situations and interactions of his interlocutors/viewers.
Pichillá Quiacaín learned to weave while helping his grandmother with her daily chores during his childhood and adolescence. He also studied visual arts at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas Rafael Rodríguez Padilla in Guatemala (1999-2003). He has held several solo exhibitions in Colombia, the United States, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, and has featured in group exhibitions in many U.S. cities, including Santa Barbara (California, USA), Denver, Miami, and Memphis. His work has also been exhibited in Montreal, São Paulo, London, Nepal, Berlin, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Chile, Romania, Tokyo, Paris, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Guatemala.
Among various collections, his works may be seen in the Denver Art Museum (Colorado, USA); the Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid, Spain); the Tate Museum (London, UK); the Kadist Art Foundation (San Francisco, USA); Il Posto (Santiago, Chile); the Inter-American Development Bank (Washington, D.C., USA); the Colección Quinto Lojo (Guatemala); the Colección Banco de España (Madrid, Spain); the Space Collection (California); the Colección Luiz Chrysóstomo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil); and the Colección Cecilia y Ernesto Poma.
Born in San Pedro La Laguna, in Sololá Department, Guatemala, Antonio Pichillá Quiacaín is a Tz’utujil Maya artist. He lives and works in his hometown on the shores of Lake Atitlán. Articulating a composite and complex language in each of his creations, his work may be described as a dynamic exercise in the creation, deconstruction, deformation/intervention, representation, and interpretation of his Tz’utujil world. His works possess the quality and possibility of dialogue with and between "others" – between the languages of many worlds and their stories of being and of existing. Pichillá Quiacaín's art is a continuous invitation to reflect, as many of his works observe and analyze reality peculiarly through irony and sarcasm. They also challenge ideas and suggest paths of relearning that call attention to and deconstruct the individual and collective certainties that are often regurgitated uncritically in the myriad daily situations and interactions of his interlocutors/viewers.
Pichillá Quiacaín learned to weave while helping his grandmother with her daily chores during his childhood and adolescence. He also studied visual arts at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas Rafael Rodríguez Padilla in Guatemala (1999-2003). He has held several solo exhibitions in Colombia, the United States, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, and has featured in group exhibitions in many U.S. cities, including Santa Barbara (California, USA), Denver, Miami, and Memphis. His work has also been exhibited in Montreal, São Paulo, London, Nepal, Berlin, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Chile, Romania, Tokyo, Paris, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Guatemala.
Among various collections, his works may be seen in the Denver Art Museum (Colorado, USA); the Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid, Spain); the Tate Museum (London, UK); the Kadist Art Foundation (San Francisco, USA); Il Posto (Santiago, Chile); the Inter-American Development Bank (Washington, D.C., USA); the Colección Quinto Lojo (Guatemala); the Colección Banco de España (Madrid, Spain); the Space Collection (California); the Colección Luiz Chrysóstomo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil); and the Colección Cecilia y Ernesto Poma.