Fatima Ronquillo

“These jewel-like paintings intuitively fuse different aesthetic traditions, folk art and old master, with natural grace and an uncanny quality that may be a species of magic.”—American Arts Quarterly, 2011

“...embraces her forebears not just intellectually but with her heart as well. Honest art is art worth paying attention to.” ―Santa Fean, 2010

“Hers is an art quite literally full of life.” ―Los Angeles Times, 2002

STATEMENT

I am fascinated by the complex nature of love, at once a source of pleasure and pain. There is the ecstasy felt by the chosen beloved or ardent admirer. Love’s fleeting nature however, also highlights the despairs of the forsaken, unnoticed and forgotten lovers, often symbolized by physically visible wounds. The surreal aspect of an isolated lover’s eye attracts me tremendously—the idea of physical dismemberment which is symbolic of a removal or estrangement of a loved one, not unlike the reliquaries of saints in old devotional images. It reminds me of the mexican ‘milagros’ – little charms of different body parts used to aid in praying for the healing of broken arms or hearts, or even eyes.

Compositionally speaking, the framed ornamental eye gives context and a reason for a floating third or fourth eye in a painting. It is a device of conceit: a portrait within a portrait. Love tokens such as cupid’s arrow, the billet doux or the lover’s eye are symbolic of the figure represented and the absent figure―the object/source of affection/heartbreak.

BIOGRAPHY

Fatima Ronquillo is a self-taught painter whose classically inspired imagery evokes a world of serenity and charm. Her paintings of mysterious personages, often set against pastoral and idyllic landscapes, are accented with an underlying sense of drama and playfulness. These intimate works are painted in the style of European old masters coupled with a magical realism rooted in folk and colonial Latin American traditions. Hers is an authentic voice that echoes from an inner world where art history meets with nostalgia and imagined characters from literature, theatre, and opera.

Born in San Fernando, Philippines in 1976, Fatima Ronquillo emigrated as a child to the United States in 1987 where her family settled in San Antonio, Texas. She currently resides and maintains a studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband and west highland terrier. Her work is included in private collections throughout North America and Europe.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

• 2014 Tesoro Mio, Meyer East Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
• 2013 Attachment, Meyer East Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
• 2013 Private Revolution, Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas
• 2012 Love and Loss, Meyer East Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
• 2011 Devotion, Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas
• 2011 Recuerdos, Meyer East Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
• 2010 Wondrous Journey, Meyer East Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
• 2010 Secret Narratives, Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas
• 2009 O Brave New World, Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas
• 2006 Town Life, Accolades, Ventura, California
• 2004 New Paintings, Accolades, Ventura, California
• 2003 New Paintings, Accolades, Ventura, California
• 2002 Magandang Buhay (Beautiful Life), Buenaventura Gallery, Ventura, California

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

• 2013 Arden Gallery, Art Hamptons Fine Art Fair, Bridgehampton, New York
• 2013 Two-Person Show: Complexity, Meyer Gallery, Park City, Utah
• 2012 Three-Person Show: On The Rise, Meyer Gallery, Park City, Utah
• 2011 After Dark, Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas
• 2010 Mirror/Mirror, Meyer Gallery, Park City, Utah
• 2010 30th Anniversary Show, Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas
• 2010 A Grand Affair, Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas
• 2009 Feast, Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas
• 2009 A Grand Affair, Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas
• 2008 Twelve, Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas
• 2008 The Boat Show, Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas
• 2008 A Grand Affair, Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas
• 2007 Alice in Wonderland, Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, Texas
• 2002 17 Asian American Artists: Asian American Experience, Studio Channel Islands Art Center
• California State University Channel Islands, Oxnard, California
• 2001 8th Annual Classic Competition, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, California
• 1999 Inland Exhibition XXXV, San Bernardino County Museum, Redlands, California
• 1998 30th Multi-Media Mini Show, San Bernardino County Museum, Redlands, California
• 1995 Welcome To Our World: Seventeen Young Artists, Centro Cultural Aztlan, San Antonio,Texas
• 1994 Welcome To Our World: Seventeen Young Artists, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio,Texas
• 1994 Mirrors/Windows, Great Hall Gallery at Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas
• 1994 Our World: Twenty Young Artists, Centro Cultural Aztlan, San Antonio, Texas
• 1993 Our World: Twenty Young Artists, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas
• 1993 Hispanic Heritage, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico San Antonio Extension, San Antonio, Texas

HONORS

• 2002 Artist Fellowship Grant, City of Ventura Cultural Arts Grants Program, Ventura, California

PUBLICATIONS / COLLABORATIONS

• Editions Barbe à Pop, Sébastian Escande, Grand Salon de la Micro-Edition #4, Lyon, France, April 2013

ARTICLES / REVIEWS

• Tolpa, Eve, “The Art Issue,” Santa Fean, June/July 2014, p.44
• Image feature, Vogue Gioiello, March 2014, p. 128
• Press, Marina, “Q&A Interview,” Poets and Artists Magazine, Issue #53 “Love,” March 2014
• Apperloo, Sandra, Artistic Moods, June 2013
• “The Precious Art of Fatima Ronquillo,” Eclectix, May 10, 2013
• Exhibition Preview, American Art Collector, Issue 90, April 2013, pp.122-123
• Mintz, Diandra, “Fatima Ronquillo’s Contemporary Portraits Evoke Old World Charm,” Beautiful Decay, April 10, 2013
• McGraw, Kate, “Respite from Modern Life,” Albuquerque Journal/Santa Fe, September 21, 2012, pp. S6, S4
• Decor-Art Blog, “”Falling in Love with an Image: An Interview with Fatima Ronquillo,” A Muse for Life, Spring 2013, pp. 27-33
• Wichert, Geoff, “Making Up Stories,” 15 Bytes, March 29, 2012 Poets and Artists Magazine, Issue #30, pp. 18-21
• Haggerty, Rachel, “Fatima Ronquillo: Devotion,” Aether Magazine, Fall/Winter 2011, pp.16-19
• Exhibition Review, American Arts Quarterly, Spring 2011, pp. 52-55
• Abatemarco, Michael, “The Eyes Have It: Fatima Ronquillo’s Windows to the Soul,” Santa Fe New Mexican, Pasatiempo, October 22-28, 2010, pp. 30-31
• Jackson, Devon, “Art Preview,” Santa Fean, October/November 2010, p.52
• Wichert, Geoff, “Mirror Mirror: Artists Reflect on Today’s Figure,” 15 Bytes, September 10, 2010
• Ainslie, Roberto Carlos, Exhibition Review, Tokyo Blues, May 16, 2010
• Feature in Artist Watch, Escape into Life, December 30, 2009
• “Exhibitionism,” Pasatiempo, October 16-22, 2009, p. 58
• Full page magazine feature, The Oxford American, “The Southern Lit Issue 2009,” No. 66, p. 25
• “Classically Inspired,” Best of the West, Southwest Art, April 2009
• Koper, Rachel, “A Grand Affair,” Arts Review, The Austin Chronicle, January 16, 2009
• Khanna, Nandita, “Quick Trips: ‘The Culture Fix’, Austin, Texas,” Condé Nast Traveler, May 2008, p.130
• Fauntleroy, Gussie, “21 Under 31” Annual Emerging Artists Issue, Southwest Art, September 2007
• “The List,” Ventana Monthly, August, 2006, pp. 40-41
• Woodard, Josef, “Color and Bounty,” Calendar Weekend, Ventura County Edition, Los AngelesTimes, February 14, 2002. p. 51
• Woodard, Josef, “Grouping Art,” Calendar Weekend, Ventura County Edition, Los Angeles Times, August 16, 2001, p. 6
• Woodard, Josef, “Spirit of Spring,” Los Angeles Times, March 24, 2001