Antonio Gritón Estate

The work of Antonio Gritón (1953-2024) encompassed activism, painting, muralism, installation and performance. He studied Physics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and in the 1970s was drawn to the musical theories of Iannis Xenakis, which led him to enter the field of visual arts. He took part in self-managed projects, organising civic actions aimed at building artistic and social infrastructure beyond official structures. In this sense, he co-founded the magazine Réplica21 in 2002 together with Gabriela Galindo and José Manuel Springer, created the Public Museum of Contemporary Art of Tlalpan in 2005, and organised the Alternative Seminars and Parliaments I and II for the revision of national cultural legislation in 2005–2006. He also supported political movements related to the 43 students of Ayotzinapa and the EZLN.

His works address themes linked to globalisation, migration, human rights and environmental concerns. He was a member of the National System of Art Creators (Mexico), received honourable mentions at the Monterrey Biennials I and VI, was selected for PhotoEspaña 2006, and won the Painting Prize at the VII National Biennial of Visual Arts of Yucatán in 2015. In 2018, he opened the exhibition No hay más ruta que la nuestra, Ruta 66 at the Museo Hugo Cara in Muggia, Trieste, Italy, and in 2019 he took part in Pavilion 02, held alongside the 58th Venice Biennale.

In recent years, he devoted himself to researching and producing large-format paintings dealing with aspects of the so-called Dirty War, which took place in Mexico between 1950 and the late 1990s, during which the Mexican Government set aside the Constitution to repress all forms of social protest.