Eugenio Tellez
(1939–)
Eugenio Tellez
1939–
Eugenio Tellez (1939– ) is a South American printmaker. His prints often explore themes of the discovery of America, colonization, and cultural identity. Common motifs include objects that feature abstracted characteristics of the human body and maps, which often appear in both real and imagined manifestations.
Born in Santiago, Chile, Tellez was raised in Lima, Peru, and Guayaquil, Ecuador. From 1957 to 1959, he attended the School of Fine Arts at the University of Chile before moving to Paris in 1960. In Paris, Tellez continued his studies at l’Atelier 17, a studio space that encouraged experimental approaches to printmaking under Stanley William Hayter. In 1962, he became the associate director of the studio, and he worked in this role until 1966. During this period, he was able to travel to many countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, England, Spain, and Belgium, where he collaborated with the likes of Pierre Alechinsky and Marcel Duchamp on the development of engravings.
From 1966 to 1968, Tellez taught in the United States at the University of Illinois, and in 1959, he was the director of the printmaking studio at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. In 1970, he was appointed to the Faculty of Fine Arts at York University where he taught until 1994. While in Toronto, Tellez was represented by Malborough Godard Gallery.
Tellez’s work has been exhibited internationally and is held in numerous significant international collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.