Meet Carlos Beltran Arechiga | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carlos Beltran Arechiga and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carlos, what do you attribute your success to?
My definition of success is to have the ability to share my work with a wide audience, and I think I have achieved this by practicing two constant rituals. The first is to place myself in a situation, where I’ll have a higher percentage of possibilities to investigate and question what painting can be. This involves a conscious decision of remaining curious and honest. The second an equally enjoyable for me, is to make sure that I stay connected and nurture new and old relationships amongst people within the art world. I’ve been able to sustain this by expanding my practice beyond painting, I have worked on several projects as a curator in the past eight years with a focus on curating shows internationally in Latin America and Europe.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As a painter, I’m involved with a craft that has been extensively developed, leaving very little room for innovation or newness. I understood that at an early age, and never set my self out hoping that I would innovate painting.
Nevertheless, at my age, and after 35 years of practice, as a Painter I think That my work if not innovative, it has developed its own language or DNA. My painting deals with the idea of structures, explicit, and implied, not just as edifices, but also the structures that are in place to determine matters of social justice, equity, and access. Aesthetically my work , like myself exists in the realm of being in between. I’m a Mexican immigrant, and the state of in betweeness is very familiar to me, I think it’s funny that my painting is also in between figuration and abstraction.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I believe the best way to experience a city is on foot, so that one can catch its essence through the cities, smells, flavors, and sounds. I have actually been able to host several artist and creators from all over the world who have collaborated with me, and a typical weekend to reveal a small portion of the city in a day would probably go like this; the first stop would be the arts district to visit Hauser and Wirth, to have a Mexican brunch from any of the local street vendors, we would then do a little exploring in the Silverlake Eaglerock and Atwater Village areas to visit, local eateries, secondhand retail shops, and mid century, modern architectural jewels, like the Neutra house in Silver Lake or the Schindler house in West Hollywood. For the evening we would circle back around to the downtown area to have dinner at the night market, or the nickel diner. And we would probably end the night at any of the rooftop bars.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I was born and raised in Mexico and a family of five and raised by a single mother, my grandmother, my sisters, my aunts, and a beautiful village of women who took care of me and nurture me.

Now as a husband and father. I continue to fine love support and inspiration in my wife and daughter, with that said, the shout out is for all the beautiful woman present in person, and otherwise who continue to surround my life with love support and light.

Website: https://carlosbeltranart.com

Instagram: carlosbeltranart