Carlos Ashida

Carlos Ashida was born in Mexico City in 1955, yet most of his professional career happened in the Guadalajara art scene. Ashida studied architecture at ITESO University, but he made his mark as curator and gallerist in spaces such as Galería Clave and, later, Arena México Arte Contemporáneo, active since the mid-1990s until the present day. From the latter institution, Ashida promoted the work of important local and international artists such as Gonzalo Lebrija, Fernando Palomar, Joaquín Segura, and Jorge Pardo, among others. Starting in February, 2014, he was Chief Curator at Instituto Cultural Cabañas (ICC), where he programmed exhibitions like Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, inédito y funcional, Eduardo Sarabia, Pog, and Las buenas intenciones, among others. In the course of his career, Ashida was the director of Galería Clave, the Taller Mexicano de Gobelinos, the Jalisco Department of Fine Arts, the Museo de las Artes at the University of Guadalajara, the Carrillo Gil Museum in Mexico City, and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Oaxaca. Among the many exhibitions he presented in cities like Monterrey, Guadalajara, Oaxaca, and Mexico City, some landmarks are Germán Venegas. Polvo de imágenes (1992) and Lesa natura. Reflexiones sobre ecología (1993), both at the Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM). Acné o el nuevo contrato social ilustrado (1996), at Baños Venecia in Guadalajara and later at the MAM, was considered a watershed in the contemporary art scene, as it brought to the fore a generation of artists whose work transcended borders while positioning Mexican art in the global arena. In 2005, Ashida was named curator Mexico's special participation in ARCO, the Madrid Art Fair, for which he selected the galleries that comprised the country's delegation. Among the distinctions he received were the fellowship of the Fideicomiso para la Cultura México / E.U.A. Bancomer – Rockefeller, and the Patronato Arte Contemporáneo, given to him for the América Foro Latino project presented at the Museo de las Artes in Guadalajara, the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, and Fotofest in Houston. Carlos Ashida passed away —a victim to cancer— on April 20, 2015 in Guadalajara, where he lived.