Leonardo Torcuato
Email: ltorcuato@hotmail.com
Phone: 319-533-7116
Torcuato is a native of Coyoacan, the home of many notable Mexican writers, musicians, actors, poets and painters, including Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.
The town – like Torcuato’s art — is steeped in Mexican culture. In Mexico, Torcuato worked at various times as a film and theater actor, a union leader, and a social activist before launching his art career in the 1990s.
In 2000, he started a workshop on textures with Juarez painter and artist Manuel Piña. He has had one-man art shows at the Museum of Archeology in Juarez, the University of Technology in Juarez, and throughout Mexico and the United States. In 2003, he founded a sculpture group in Juarez and began teaching sculpture at the Municipal Center for the Arts.
Torcuato came to Cedar Rapids in 2005 after his wife, Ana, became employed at Whirlpool Refrigeration in Amana. Their son, Leonardo Jr., was born in Cedar Rapids that same year.
Since coming to Cedar Rapids, Torcuato has been extremely active in the arts community. He was named the Paul Engle Center’s first Artist-in-Residence after the June flood destroyed most of his family’s possessions. As an extension of this appointment, Torcuato has painted a mural at the center that is inspired by Paul Engle’s poem, “Song of the Cedar.”
Leonardo’s most recent work is currently on display at the Paul Engle Center, having suffered the loss of most of their posessions in the flood of 2008, the pieces contained in the exhibit were inspired by the flood and created with mud from local parks and the Cedar River. Leonardo describes his latest work this way, “It was my interest to work with soil as texture, with its natural tones, before and after the flood. The tones are different since the soil I collected was from different sites and different depths. I gathered soil from parks and from the Cedar River; from two meters deep and from the surface. This is how I found dark, medium and light tones. This gave a natural richness to the texture, giving as a result, these works that I want to be a mirror of the uncertainty and pain of those moments and the hope of rebuilding our community.”
Other notable items include in 2006:
- April: Held a conference about “Mexican Muralism” in Kirkwood College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
- June to August: Participated in the third annual outdoor exhibit by the 15 in 5 New Bohemia Group. Theme “My Face”.
- June: Assisted in the restoration of the mural at the Paul Engle Center for Neighborhood Arts, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
July: Painted a mural on the cafeteria wall inside Johnson School of the Arts, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. August: Awarded recognition by Centro Latinoamericano of Waterloo, Iowa for his support of the Hispanic community. September: Participated in the The World International Art & Music Festival organized by The World International Cultural Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. December: Painted a mural at La Placita restaurant in Waterloo, Iowa
In 2007 April: Held a conference about “Mexican Muralism” at Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. June – August: Participated in the fourth annual outdoor exhibit “My Dream” by the 15 in 5 New Bohemia Group.
– August: Preparing for the opening of “When You No Longer Were Here” scheduled for August 18, 2007 at the Paul Engle Center for Neighborhood Arts, 1600 4th Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Leonardo can be reached at leonardotorcuato@artlover.com or 319-533-7116.
