Rodolfo Villena Hernández

Rodolfo Villena Hernández (born 1968) is a Mexican artisan who specializes in cartonería, a type of hard papier-mâché used to sculpt piñatas, holiday decorations, Judas figures as well as the building of monumental works.

His works have been exhibited in Puebla, Mexico City and Chicago. He has also been involved in theater. His work has been recognized with various awards over his career.

Earky life and education Villena Hernández was born in Mexico City to parents who taught him to respect Mexican traditions and encouraged his interest in them. He began creating his own Day of the Dead altars when he was age ten in the family garage. He studied history at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, then moved to the city of Puebla when he was age twenty three, where he still lives.

Cartonería career

He began his artisan career in 1990, after taking classes in cartonería, with a break for a year in 1996 when he went to New York to earn money selling chicharrones. Since then, he has been dedicated to cartonería full-time. Of these, his altars related to the Day of the Dead are of particular note, especially the skeletal figures that adorn them. the Mexican Revolution for the Complejo Cultural Universitaria of the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (2010), the China Poblana with various students for the Puebla city hall (2012) and one for José Guadalupe Posada for the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago (2013) .

The artisan represents death as something happy, fun and irreverent, with the skeletal figures in movement. His works also show influence from José Guadalupe Posada in their sense of irony.

However, he says that his work is better appreciated outside of Mexico, with few in the country willing to pay what the creations are worth. He also finds it difficult to get government and non-governmental support to exhibit outside the country. In 2013, he was named a "master of popular art" (maestro de arte popular) by the Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico City.

Theatrical career In addition to his cartonería, Villena Hernández has also been involved with the theatre, directing and producing plays with his own company (Compañia Teatral de Rodolfo Villena) . He also wrote and produced a play, La Gatita del Principal, as a tribute to María Conesa in 1994.