Paula Lazos Araoz

Paula Lazos (June 30, 1940 – January 27, 2010) was a Mexican painter whose work has been exhibited in both North and South America and recognized with membership in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.

Life Lazos was born in Cuernavaca, where she remained based for her life and career. In 1954, she graduated a program for art teachers at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos. From 1958 to 1959, she took classes in modern dance with Luis Alonso. For a time, she was undecided between a career in painting or in dance.

In 1963, she met painter Dr Atl at the Instituto Regional de Bellas Artes, proposing with him the idea of creating a socialist science center in the town of Tepoztlán. While she had Atl’s support, and was named secretary of the institution, Atl fell ill and died in 1964, and the project withered. Her teaching career extended into kindergarten for much of her career, and from 1975, at the Dirección General de Capacitación y Mejoramiento Profesional del Magisterior, Centro Regional No. 16.

Lazo’s first individual exhibition was at the Trini Gallery in Cuernavaca in 1960. Since then, her work has been exhibited in Mexico, the United States and into South America. Many of her individual exhibitions were in Mexico in venues such as Trini Gallery, Galería 5, Calmecac Gallery, the Salón de la Plástica Morelense, the Palacio de Cortés, the Van Gelder Art Gallery, the Instituto Municipal de Bellas Artes in Cuautla and others. In 1975, a national exhibition of her work was sponsored by the Unión Feminina de Escritoras y Locutoras of Mexico City, for the International Year of the Woman.

In 1968, the Museum of the University of Memphis acquired two of her works, which opened the US market to her.

Lazo’s first recognition was an honorific mention at the V Salón de Pintura at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Later in her life, she received the Quetzalcoatl Prize from a panel that included the news agency Vibraciones de la Ciudad and the Pinacoteca del Reclusorio Oriente. She donated two works to the latter institution. She was also inducted into the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana where she remained active until her death in 2010.