By Paola Velasco
I stopped in to see Alberto Lenz at the Cafe de la Parroquia on calle Jesus, an emblematic place with a long tradition in San Miguel de Allende. I, like many in San Miguel, met Alberto when he was director of “El Nigromante” Cultural Center, also known as Bellas Artes. Although I had seen him many times, I hardly knew him.
When asked about his career, he replied with a big smile, “My life is a series of accidental events.” Lenz studied painting at the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City, and then spent several years in Europe, where he absorbed large doses of art, design, painting, and aesthetics that made him see art and architecture in a different way. Years later he returned to Mexico, determined to study regional urban development at the Colegio de México.
A Marxist at heart, he was very interested in combining the needs of development and infrastructure with social welfare. During former President Vicente Fox’s term in office (2000-2006) Lenz became immersed in large urban projects, and developed the National Infrastructure Plan in 2001. This plan involved over 20 professionals in different areas, such as tourism, the environment, and energy. He also planned the Puebla-Panama Project, a tourist and commercial cooperation zone between the Mexican southeast and Central America, and the pioneering Guanajuato Interior Port, an industrial park with the characteristics of a seaport, but in the center of the country, with train, road, and air transport access.
After several years of working for the federal government, his health prompted him to make a drastic change and he moved to the city of Querétaro, where the artist in him was reborn. There, he produced metal sculptures on a large and small scale. He dedicated himself to this activity for several years, and made commissioned sculptures up to four meters high for the entrances of new developments in Querétaro, such as Juriquilla and Zibatá.
According to Lenz’s theory that life is a series of fortuitous accidents, in a Mexico City cafe he met the Secretary of Culture of Mexico under Enrique Pena Nieto, Rafael Tovar y de Teresa, who asked him a key question: “Do you like San Miguel de Allende?” Lenz replied, “I love it.” It was the deciding moment for him to move to San Miguel. His friends told him that he would finally live in a place that fit people like him, where the art of living is a priority. Today Lenz lives happily in the countryside, enjoying good health and the solitude that a life dedicated to creation requires. He paints, sculpts, and can contemplate life in his home studio.
His most recent work involves figures known as “totems.” These are very colorful steel sculptures where he combines spirituality and sculpture. The work is on exhibit at the Sargent & Schneider Gallery on Calle Aldama 3 until the end of September.
For Lenz, working with living geometry is “speaking the language with which God describes the universe.” We said goodbye at the door of the gallery, with still so much to talk about.
