Elena Climent was born in Mexico City in 1955, the daughter of the Spanish artist Enrique Climent. She took art classes in Mexico City, Valencia and Barcelona, but is fundamentally self-taught. In 1972 she had her first exhibition in Mexico City and in 1988 she had a solo show at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Since 1992 she has been represented by Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art in New York and the Galería GAM (formerly the Galería de Arte Mexicano) in Mexico City. She currently resides in New York City and is Artist in Residence at The New School.
2004-05 Lateral Altars, Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art, New York
2003 Elena Climent: Nichos, Velas, Flores, Consejo Cultural de la Universidad de las Américas, Puebla, San Pedro, Cholula
2002 La hora de la siesta, Casa de Cultura Reyes Heroles, Mexico City
2002 Childhood, Mary Anne Martin/Fine Art, New York
2001 La hora de la siesta, Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City
2001 Ventanas de mi memoria, Chicago, IL, The Mexican Cultural and Educational Institute of Chicago; Los Angeles, CA, The Wilshire Ebell Theatre; and Albuquerque, NM, National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico
2000 Windows from Here to Then, Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art, New York
1999-2001 Ventanas de su memoria, Paris, Centre Culturel du Mexique (This exhibition traveled to the Instituto Cultural Mexicano de la Embajada de Mexico, Vienna; Instituto Mexicano de Cultura, Madrid; and will travel to the Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington D.C. and the Cultural Institute of Mexico, Chicago)
1999-2000 Antología, oleos y acuarelas, Museo Biblioteca Pape, Monclova, Coahuila
(This exhibition traveled to: Instituto Coahuila de Cultura, Saltilo, Coahuila, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Centre Culturel Du Mexique, Paris, Instituto Cultural Mexicano de la Embajada de México, Vienna, Instituto Mexicano, Madrid, and Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington D.C., “Arte de Mexico” Gallery)
1997 To My Parents, Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art, New York
1995 Re-encounters, Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art, New York
1993 Elena Climent, En Busca del Presente, Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City
1992 Elena Climent, In Search of the Present, Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art, New York
1988 Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City
1983 Galería el Grillo y el Oso, Mexico City
1982 Galería Metropolitana, Mexico City
1978 Galería San Angel, Mexico City
1977 Galería Helen Lavista, Mexico City
1976 Galería Casa de las Campanas, Cuernavaca, Mexico
1972 Galería Helen Lavista, Mexico City
2004 La Colección de Arte Mexicano Moderno y Contemporáneo de Jacques y Natasha Gelman, Fundación Cultural Parque Morelos, Cuernavaca, Mexico (through 2009)
2001 Entremundos: Jewish Artists from Latin America, Singer Gallery, Mizel Cultural Arts Center, Denver, CO
2000-2001 Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Twentieth Century Mexican Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
2000 Viva la Vida, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism, City Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2000 VI Salón de Arte, Grupo Financiero BBVA Bancomer
1999 Arte Mexicano: Colección Jacques y Natasha Gelman, INBA, Mexico, D.F.; Fundacion Proa, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1999 Peinture Moderne au Mexique: Collection Jacques et Natasha Gelman, Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris
1999-2000 Latin American Still Life: Reflections of Time and Place, Katonah, Katonah Museum of Art (This exhibition traveled to the Museo del Barrio, New York)
1996-97 Salon de Triumfadores: 30 Años de Arte Joven, Museo de Aguascalientes, Mexico. (This exhibition traveled to : Foro de Arte y Cultura, Guadalajara; Antiguo Palacio del Arzobispado, Mexico City; Museo de Historia Mexicana, Monterrey)
1996-97 Lazos y Nexus: The Legacy of María Izquierdo, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Chicago
1996 Innata Natura: Pintura Mexicana Contemporánea, Feria Arco, Madrid, organized by Galería del Arte Mexicano, Mexico City. (This exhibition traveled to Galerie Rahn, Zurich)
1995-96 Espíritu, California Center for the Arts Museum, Escondido, California
1995 Latin American Women Artists 1915-1995, Milwaukee Art Museum (This exhibition is traveled to the Phoenix Art Museum; The Denver Art Museum; the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; and the Center for the Fine Arts, Miami)
1994 Paper Visions V, Housatonic Museum, Bridgeport, CT
1994 Miradas Femininas, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Aguascalientes, Mexico
1994 Art Miami '94, Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami
1993 Regards de femmes (As part of the Europalia Biennial '93 ), Musee d'Art Moderne, Liege (Belgium)
1992 Contemporary Museum, San Diego
1991 Los Angeles County Museum of Art
1991 The Earth Itself (Part I of Mexico: Thirty Centuries Later), Parallel Project Gallery, Santa Monica
1991 La Mujer en México, Centro Cultural de Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, and Museo de Monterrey
1990 Women in Mexico, National Academy of Design, New York
1989 Current Arrivals, New York, MOCHA
1988 Latin American Group Show, Chicago, Nicole Gallery
1984 Bienal de Dibujo, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City
1984 Galería Metropolitana, Mexico City
1980 Galería San Angel, Mexico City
1974 Galería Helen Lavista, Mexico City
Lara de Elizondo, Lupina, ed., “Elena Climent: Expresión de los objetos,” Resumen, Mexico: vol. 8, no. 66, Nov./Dec. 2003, pp. 30-49.
Acevedo, Alejandro, “Youthful Inspiration, Interview with Elena Climent” Vuelo, September 1998
“Elena Climent,” Review: Latin American Literature and Arts. No. 56, Spring 1998, p. 47
Cotter, Holland, “Elena Climent,” New York Times, Friday, June 20, 1997
Herrera, Hayden, “Elena Climent.” To My Parents, Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art, New York, 1997
Sullivan, Edward, Latin American Art in the Twentieth Century, London, 1996, p. 11
Lozano, Luis-Martin, “Innaata Natura: del la Figuración en la Pintura Mexicana Contemporánea.” Innata Natura: Pintura Contemporánea Mexicana. Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City, 1996
Smith, Roberta, “Elena Climent,” New York Times, Friday, June 16, 1995
Glueck, Grace, “Salsa on the Table,” The New York Observer, June 19, 1995
Emerich, Luis Carlos. Espíritu. California Center for the Arts, Escondido, CA, 1995, p. 29
Lowe, Sarah M. “Ordering Objects: Acts of Time.” Re-encounters. Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art, New York, 1995
Schneider Enriquez, M. “The Persistence of Mexico,” ARTnews (April 1995), p. 133, illus.
Biller, J., Smith D., et al. “Elena Climent,” Latin American Women Artists 1915-1995. Exh. cat. Milwaukee Art Museum (1995), pp. 156 157, illus.
Page, Amy. “Brash New World,” Art & Auction (Jan. 1995), p. 83, illus.
Ray-Jones, Anna. “ExhibitionsNew Art from Latin America,” Art and Design, London (1994) pp. x-xi.
Tibol, Raquel. “Lo Humilde como identidad,” Proceso (February 1, 1993), p. 52, illus.
Green, Jerald R. “Elena Climent--Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art,” Latin American Art, vol. 4, no. 2 (1993) p. 74
Martin, C.P. “A New Mexican Wave,” The Regent Magazine (51st Issue, 1993), pp. 70-73, illus.
Elizondo, Salvador. Elena Climent una artista interesante. (May 1992) Exh. cat., Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico, D.F., Jan.-Feb., 1993
Sullivan, Edward. Elena Climent In Search of the Present. Exh. cat., Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art, New York, 1992
Herrera, Hayden. “Elena Climent at Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art,” Art in America (October 1992), p. 151, illus.
Ruy Sanchez, Alberto. “Una Mosca en el Arcoiris,” Artes de Mexico (Spring 1991), pp. 23-24 (editorial), illus.
Ortiz Monasterio, P. and J. Riestra, eds. New Moments in Mexican Art/Nuevos momentos en el arte mexicano. New York: Parallel Project; Madrid: Turner Libros, 1990
Sullivan, E., Nochlin L., et al. La Mujer en Mexico/Women in Mexico. Exh. cat., The National Academy of Design, New York; Centro Cultural de Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City; Museo de Monterrey, 1990-1991, pp. xci-xciii and pp. 68-71, illus.
Saavedra, M. Elena Climent Flor de asfalto. Exh.cat., Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico, 1988
Torres Martinez, José. Elena Climent El tiempo detenido. Exh. cat., Galería Metropolitana, Mexico City, 1982