José Reyes Meza (November 23, 1924 – October 31, 2011) was a Mexican painter, costume and set designer, who helped to found a number of cultural institutions in Mexico. Reyes Meza began his artistic career principally in theater, although he was an active painter and even bullfighter in his early days. Painting became prominent starting in the 1970s, working on murals in various parts of Mexico as well as exhibiting canvas works in Mexico and abroad. The artist is a founding member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana and his work has been acknowledged by tributes, various awards and an art museum in Nuevo Laredo named after him.
Life
José Reyes Meza was born in Tampico, Tamaulipas . His mother was only sixteen at the time and his parents separated soon after his birth. He then went with his mother to live in nearby Altamira. He grew up in a very rural area on the Gulf coast with lagoons such as the Champayan Lagoon, filled with alligators, birds and water plants. The area is also part of the Huasteca region of Mexico so he grew up on native music such as the huapango, learning to play this music on the guitar, the jarana huasteca and an instrument called the “tres cubano.” On occasions during his childhood, Reyes traveled on a barge with his uncles to sell provisions to local ranchers sent by his grandmother. These experiences later influenced his artwork, often conserving his childhood experiences.
Later in childhood, he went to live with his father, whose occupation was metal engraving and jewelry work. He described his father as someone “very close to aesthetic expression.” His father introduced him to bullfighting and the theater. He tried t learn his father's trade but did not like it, so he took a job at the age of eleven as a cook's helper at the dining hall at a local oil refinery. In his free time, he drew, giving his works to the refinery workers. In recognition of his talent, the workers from the payroll department arranged a stipend to allow him to attend the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City, where Reyes arrived in 1938, at age fourteen. Reyes Meza studied at the school from 1938 to 1948 under teachers such as Benjamín Coria, Francisco Goitia, Francisco de la Torre and Luis Sahagún.
Deciding he needed other studies as well, in 1942 he enrolled in classes with the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, concentrating on topics such as mythology, religion and magic. With other students at the Instituto such as Xavier Rojas, he founded the Teatro Estudiantil Autónoma, remaining very active with this theater project which led to an award for best set design in 1957.
Shortly after arriving to Mexico City, he married María Luisa Algarra, a writer and lawyer who arrived to Mexico fleeing the Spanish Civil War. The artist met her at the opening of her first play in Mexico. This union produced two daughters María and Fernanda. The marriage lasted twelve years, until María Luisa's death at the age of forty two. He then married Gabriela Orozco Marín, the daughter of painters Carlos Orozco Romero and María Marín. This union produced Mariana Gabriela, who also became a painter. Through his life his passions remains art, bulls and cooking. He stated that if he had not become a painter, he probably would have become a cook or bullfighter, with a passion for both since childhood. From his teen years until the late 1950s, he fought bulls when he could as a secondary occupation. This interest also is reflected in a series of drawings and oil paintings.
Reyes Meza died at the age of 87 in Mexico City, from complications of stomach cancer. His body was buried at the Panteón Francés in the Deportiva Pensil neighborhood of Mexico City.