The Whatcom Museum is pleased to showcase works by renowned artist Alfredo Arreguín in a new, six-month exhibition. El velo exquisito / The Exquisite Veil, featuring 13 original oil paintings, will be presented in Spanish and English and will be on view in Whatcom Museum’s historic Old City Hall from January 25 – July 6, 2025.
Born in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico in 1935, Arreguín was encouraged to draw as a young child and attended the National Preparatory School, made famous by artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. His works are acclaimed and widely recognized today, thanks in part to his signature technique of overlaying compositions with intricate, lace-like patterns.
“The exhibition title draws reference to Arreguín’s hallmark technique of building up layers of repeated patterns that produce a screen or veil across the entire composition,” explained Whatcom Museum Chief Curator Amy Chaloupka. “Whether a portrait or an expansive landscape, this rhythmic texture provides a common element overlaying each of his works. It was something that came to him intuitively, and many of these patterns are made up of tessellated or repeating shapes that reference Pre-Columbian masks and traditional folk art from his native Mexico.”
Arreguín immigrated to Seattle at age 21 and served in the Korean War before continuing his art studies at the University of Washington, where he completed a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1969. His favorite themes included the Mexican jungles of his childhood and the familiar flora and fauna of the Pacific Northwest, which he observed on daily walks around his North Seattle neighborhood.
The artist was also widely known for his symbolic portraits of poets, activists, revolutionaries, friends, family, and of himself, and his works can be found in museums in Mexico and across the United States, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and El Museo Contemporaneo de Arte in Morelia, Mexico.
In 2023, the year Arreguín died, his estate generously donated six of his works to the Whatcom Museum’s permanent collection for the community to enjoy. They will be on display in El velo exquisito/The Exquisite Veil, along with paintings on loan from his estate and private collectors.
El velo exquisito/The Exquisite Veil opens Saturday, January 25, 2025 at the Whatcom Museum. A private opening reception for Whatcom Museum members will be hosted on Wednesday, January 29, and Access for All Free First Friday on February 7 will celebrate Alfredo Arreguín with live music and programming inspired by his love of color and pattern.
