Arnulfo Mendoza
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Arnulfo Mendoza Ruíz (August 17, 1954 – March 7, 2014) was an artist, cultural promotor, and weaver who exhibited his work within Mexico and internationally. Born in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, a well-known center of Zapotec weaving, he became one of its best-known artisans, recognized as a "Grand Master" by the Fomento cultural Banamex. He also belonged to the founding group of the Taller Rufino Tamayo in Oaxaca, called "The first generation of the Taller Rufino Tamayo" with artists such as Maximino Javier, Alejandro Santiago, Felipe Morales, Filemón Santiago, among others. He worked on the promotion and dissemination of contemporary art and Oaxacan folkart as director of the La Mano Mágica Gallery, together with his ex-wife Mary Jane Gagnier. The gallery and weaving workshop currently directed by his son Gabriel Mendoza Gagnier.
Mendoza was born in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, a Zapotec community near the state capital that is well known for its weaving of rugs. The residents have been successful enough in this endeavor that unlike many other communities in the region, few people emigrate from here.[1][2]
At age nine, he began his training in form, color and materials at his family's workshop, learning traditional Zapotec weaving.[3][4] He went on to study at the school of fine arts at the Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca (UABJO) from 1972 to 1974.[3][5]
Mendoza later married Canadian Mary Jane Gagnier, who had come to Teotitlán as a backpacker and fell in love with the area, as well as with him. They worked together to promote his work and that of other artisans in the central valleys of Oaxaca, by opening a gallery, La Mano Magica, and writing. The couple divorced but Mary Jane stayed in Oaxaca to continue this work. The couple has one son, Gabriel Mendoza Gagnier.[3][2]
In 2014, Mendoza died unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 59. There was a wake in the city of Oaxaca as well as in his hometown, where he was buried.[1][4]
