Luis Sanchez

Biography

Luis Sanchez, a Renaissance man and extraordinary talent, has emerged in the art world combining symbolic physical structures, art history, and contemporary ecology displayed in trompe l’oeil two-dimensional works. His name is not easily forgotten once you have seen this art or met this amazing man. This Mexican-born painter executes his works from the depth and wisdom of one who has lived a fine line between life and death. The images from his paintings reach the viewer as he brings canvas to life. Reinventing the ancient process of fresco, he paints details of degraded stucco walls remembered from his childhood in Mexico City. He brings the past to the present contemplating about the future and reminding us all that the post holds the truth to the future. Born May 25th, 1968, Sanchez lived the first ten years of his life in Mexico City with his family, a Cuban-born father, a Mexican-Lebanese mother, and an older brother and sister. At age seven, after demonstrating an innate talent, his parents enrolled him in Mexico’s prestigious Museo De Bellas Artes, foretelling a future of heritage and destiny. A passionate and diverse family including artisans, dancers and bullfighters surrounded his early life. Sanchez’s family immigrated to the United States in 1979. Sanchez attended Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington after graduating from high school in 1987. Art history, life drawing and perspective drawing were the focus of his studies. After a lifetime of chronic kidney disease and years of hemodialysis machines, he received a successful kidney transplant in 1993. Unable to return to his studies, Sanchez focused on teaching himself the subtleties of human anatomy through books, at times sketching for 12 hours a day. “My transplant was a rebirth; it’s difficult to explain, but it certainly puts life, everyone in it and everything in crystal clear perspective,” says the artist. Energy, discipline, drive, and a palpable life force emanate from Sanchez now. Cherishing life, he lives it by design; he is unstoppable. Sanchez has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in California, New York and Washington. He is also very active in charity, donating works for Rise and Shine Foundation (children or teens with AIDS), DIFFA (Design Industries Fighting for Aids), Bellevue Art Museum Auctions and local High School Art programs.