Guilloume - Bio
Family and friends—their value and importance to
this impassioned artist—permeate the work of this New Mexico
painter and sculptor.
Guilloume's body of work is the result of
a man following his passion for more than 30 years. His drive
for creating perfectly understated yet timeless oil paintings
and bronze sculptures and reliefs is fueled by his love for
various members of his very large family of origin as well as
his adoration of his children and his wife, Gladys, the love of
his life.
The story begins in 1957 in Medellín. Nestled in the Aburrá Valley at the north end of the Andes Mountains, Medellín is Colombia's second largest city. 1957 was the year that the artist's mother gave birth to her 19th of 20 children, Guilloume. From the time he was a toddler, his mother instilled in Guilloume the belief that "everything is possible and you can do whatever you set your mind and heart to. So why not shoot for the moon? It matters not if you miss your target and hit your neighbor's cow."
Following his passion started in 1975 with Guilloume’s fascination with the artistic skills of his high school classmate, Jose Luis Mejía, who sketched portraits of everyone in their class. Guilloume sought Jose’s guidance. By the end of the school year 17-year-old, Guilloume, was preparing for the admissions test to enter the prestigious Bellas Artes Institute in Medellín. In just two short years at the Institute, he learned the mediums of charcoal, pencil, ink, watercolor, and pastel. From 1977 to 1981, he studied oil painting, with human anatomy being his favorite class.
By 1979, Guilloume had his first one-man show in a small gallery in the artist-filled cosmopolis, Medellín. This marked the beginning of Guilloume’s promotion of "Bolismo in black and white", a complex style of art created with a series of circles or as he translates from Spanish, "balls". Graduation thrust Guilloume into the world of professional art where he was immediately confronted by a challenging and highly competitive art market. In order to compete, indeed survive, the business-minded Guilloume tapped his creative abilities and established his independence by opening a small custom frame shop which he also used as a gallery to promote his work. Simultaneously, he began saving his pesos for a move to the US where most of his family was residing.
In 1984, Guilloume met Gladys Margarita Franco. After a whirlwind romance, they married and moved to Los Angeles. Adapting to their new lives in a seemingly enormous city while learning a new language was difficult, but later proved to be rewarding. Guilloume’s first two exhibitions in local Los Angeles galleries (1989 and 1990) were highly successful.
It only took a few years of learning the new culture for Guilloume to decide he wanted to find another American landscape for his family and his work. A friend from Texas told him about Santa Fe, "the City Different." During a short trip to New Mexico, Guilloume fell in love with the colors, the richness of all he saw, and the Land of Enchantment sunsets. He sensed the energy of the Santa Fe Society of Artists and he also felt it was an ideal place to raise his young family.
Guilloume joined various art associations in New Mexico and Arizona. A year later he was showing his work with the Santa Fe Society of Artists and in Arizona galleries. Based on the instant popularity of his work, Guilloume began a two-year apprenticeship with local sculptor, Ralph Roybal so that he could learn the lost wax technique of bronze sculpture creation. Roybal taught Guilloume everything he needed to know from mold making, dressing the wax, and welding, to metal chasing and patina work. In his own words, Guilloume says, "The 90's represent a time of creative retooling for me. That is why I sometimes refer to the 90’s as my "renewal period." It was not long before Guilloume was showing his bronze sculptures in a number of well-established galleries across the US, Canada, and Europe.
The new century came with new opportunities for Guilloume in the way of more acceptance of his art work and in 2002, he was an invited artist at the esteemed Biennale Internazionale Dell’Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy. His increased success led to more personal appearances at galleries, museums and art shows in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, South Carolina, Florida, and Washington.
Guilloume's message is simple: As
human beings, we have more in common than we have differences.
He illustrates this message in the universal language of art by
creating a beauty that speaks to people from all corners of the
earth, from all walks of life, from all political spectra, and
from all age groups in his unique and passionate style.
