1957
Flor Garduño was born in Mexico City on March 21. When she was five years old, her family moved to a hacienda 25 km from the capital city where she lived in close contact with animals and nature, an experience which enhanced her character.
1976 – 1978
Flor studied visual arts at the Old San Carlos Academy (UNAM), where she focused on the search for the structural aspects of form and space. She became especially interested in the work of Kati Horna, a Hungarian photographer who left Europe during the rise of National Socialism.
Together with the magical and expressive dimension of her photography, Horna’s personality had a significant impact on the development of Flor’s work.
1979 – 1980
Flor gave up her studies to work as a darkroom assistant to Manuel Álvarez Bravo, one of Mexico’s most prestigious photographers.
She perfected her photographic skills by processing prints in silver, platinum and palladium; her career as a photographer was defined as of this time.
1981 – 1982
Flor began to work at the Department of Public Education under the supervision of photographer Mariana Yampolsky; during this period, she visited remote rural zones to find appropriate themes for schoolbooks, an experience which enabled her to gain insights into Mexico and the lives of its indigenous groups while also defining her own style. One example of her work at this time is entitled Water. This haunting image depicts a woman emerging from a waterfall surrounded by dark foliage. This archetypical vision is not simply a description, but rather leads the spectator into a magical dream world.
1982
Her first individual exhibition was held at the José Clemente Orozco Gallery in Mexico City.
1983
Flor took part in the Four from Mexico exhibition staged at the Mexican Museum in San Francisco, USA.
1984
At joint exhibitions held at the Children’s Museum in Paris, France, and the Cultural Center in Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico, Flor presented a series of photographs on the theme of Death in Mexico.
1985
Encouraged by the enthusiasm and editorial support of painter Francisco Toledo, Flor published her first book entitled Magia del juego eterno, which represented six years’ work. This project was presented at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Mexico City.
1986
The Magia del juego eterno exhibition was presented at Chambre Claire during “Le mois de la photo” in Paris, France. Flor participated in several joint exhibitions, including those staged at the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, USA.
She printed personally all the photographs included in the exhibition of the Swiss architect Mario Botta at the Modern Art Museum (MOMA) in New York.
1987
Her second book, Bestiarium, was published by U. Bär Verlag, Zürich, Switzerland.
She presented an individual exhibition at the House of Latin America in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
1988
Bestiarium, was shown at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Mexico City.
Flor presented a series of exhibitions in Europe, Canada and the USA.
1990
She received a grant from the Swiss Federal Cultural Fund, Berne, Switzerland.
She was awarded a photography grant by FONCA CONACULTA, Mexico.
1991
Flor offered a series of exhibitions in Montpellier during Les Rencontres d’Arles, France.
1992– 1993
Swiss magazine Du fully dedicated its January edition to Flor. In March, the Zurich newspaper Tages Anziger also published her work. In April, the book Witnesses of time was published in five languages and seven editions (Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, England, USA and Mexico).
The exhibition Witnesses of time (72 photographs) was staged at the following locations: l’Elysée Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland; Reiss Mannheim Museum, Germany; Foto Fest, Houston, USA; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA; Fine Arts Museum, Mexico City, Mexico; Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, USA; Americas Society, New York, USA; Meadows Museum, Dallas, USA; Museo d’Arte di Mendrisio, Switzerland.
The Nikon Gallery, Zürich, Switzerland, presented a selection of her photographs in Du magazine.
Collective exhibitions: Song for Reality. Latin American Photography. 1860-1992, House of America, Madrid, Spain.
Flor received a grant from the Swiss Federal Cultural Fund, Berne, Switzerland.
1994
She published her fourth book, Mesteños, photographs of horses and Native Americans.
Witnesses of time was shown in Mexico (Oaxaca, Monterrey, Guadalajara and Jalapa).
In the case of Image and Memory: Latin American Photography, 1880-1992, Flor exhibited her work at Akron Art Museum, Akron, USA and at the Meadows Museum of Art in Dallas, USA.
The Mexican National Council for Culture and the Arts -FONCA CONACULTA- awarded her three years’ funding for a new project.
1995
Mesteños was staged for the first time at the Vision Gallery, San Francisco, USA.
Photographs from the Bestiarium and Magia del juego eterno exhibitions were shown in Berlin, Hamburg and Braunschweig, Germany.
The Northern Lands Photography Encounters exhibition was staged at the Gallery of the Anthropology Museum in Coimbra, Portugal.
Mexican Visionary, Light Factory Gallery, Charlotte, USA.
In the case of Image and Memory: Latin American Photography, 1880-1992, Flor exhibited her photographs at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, USA.
1996
Sponsored by Pro Helvetia, Switzerland, the Witnesses of time exhibition was staged at the Museum of Modern Art in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil.
Flor’s work was shown at the Art Gallery of the University of Scranton and at El Museo del Barrio, New York, USA.
Member of the board of La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain.
Flor published a commemorative book for Mummenschanz, Tobler Verlag, Altstätten, Switzerland.
She was invited by Guido Magnaguagno to take photographs of Zürich for a collective exhibition staged at the Kunsthaus in Zürich, Switzerland.
The collective exhibition A Spiritual Journey – Photography and Latin America was held at the Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA.
1997
The Witnesses of time touring exhibition was staged at: Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (CENAC), San José, Costa Rica; Fine Arts Museum, Caracas, Venezuela; Art-Forum Gallery, Quito, Ecuador; National Museum of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
In the case of Definition of the Eyes: Women Photographers in the 20th Century, Flor showed her photographs at the Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, USA.
Her work was shown at the Museum voor Volkenkunde in Rotterdam, Holland.
The National Fund for Culture and the Arts, Mexico showed the exhibition Silver Century – Mexican Photography in: Culiacán, Mazatlán, Mexicali, Morelia, Toluca, Tlaxcala, Pachuca, Villahermosa, Campeche and Chetumal.
A collective exhibition was staged at the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA.
With the Karen Blix Association she participated at the exhibition Real Maravilloso in Milan, Italy.
The Mexican National Council for Culture and the Arts -FONCA CONACULTA- granted her three years’ funding to continue to develop her new project.
1998
The Witnesses of time touring exhibition was staged at: Municipal Gallery, Lima, Peru; National Art Museum; La Paz, Bolivia; Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Museum of Fine Arts, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
Flor was a member of the board of the 1998 Photo Press Award, Geneva, Switzerland.
1999
The Witnesses of time touring exhibition was staged at: Municipal Museum of Fine Arts, Montevideo, Uruguay; during the fourth International Photography Competition, São Paulo, Brazil.
Exhibition Esguards distants at the Modern Art Museum of Valencia, IVAM, Valencia, Spain.
2000
TV-film (biography /documentary) by Elanimage in coproduction with Canal Once, Mexico, and Prodest Communications, Rome, Italy.
The Mask and the man exhibition was staged at Exma’ Communal Center for Art and Culture, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy.
Witnesses of time was shown at the Ken Damy Museum in Brescia, Italy.
Individual exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, USA.
Joint exhibition (with Graciela Iturbide and Cristina García Rodero) at the Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery, Dallas, USA.
2001
Individual exhibition at the Throckmorton Gallery, New York, USA. Member of the board of the National Photography Award in Bogotá, Colombia.
Collective exhibition The Nature of Still Life, Gallery of Modern Art, Bologna, Italy.
Flor received the photography grant from FONCA CONACULTA, Mexico.
2002
She participated at collective exhibition Latin American Artists 1980-2000, staged at the IDB Cultural Center Art Gallery, Washington D.C., USA
She participated at Fotografía i Colleccionisme a Llatinoamérica, Fundació Foto Colectania, Barcelona, Spain.
Her new book Flor / Inner light was published by: Bulfinch Press, New York/Boston, USA; Braus, Heidelberg, Germany; Lunwerg, Madrid/Barcelona, Spain; Peliti Associati, Rome, Italy.
The individual exhibition Woman was shown at the Swiss Cultural Center in Milan, Italy.
The individual exhibition Work in platinum-palladium by Flor Garduño was staged at the Sozzani Gallery, Milan, Italy.
The individual exhibitions Flor and The works in platinum-palladium were also presented at the Communal Museum of Modern Art in Ascona, Switzerland.
Individual exhibition Flor was presented at the Image Center in, Mexico City, Mexico.
2003
The individual exhibition Flor and Witnesses of time was shown at the GAM Modern Art Gallery in Bologna, Italy.
An individual exhibition of a selection of photographs from Flor was presented at Jackson Fine Art Inc. Atlanta, USA; Fahey Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, USA; Andrew Smith Gallery, Santa Fe, USA; Throckmorton Gallery, New York, USA; Naples Museum, Naples, Florida, USA; Manuel Álvarez Bravo Photography Museum, Oaxaca, Mexico; Monterrey Film Theater, Mexico.
Similarly, an individual exhibition was staged for Michael Dunev Art Projects, Girona, Spain.
2004
The individual exhibition Flor was presented at the National Museum of Fine Arts, Santiago de Chile, Chile; National Museum of Visual Arts de Montevideo, Uruguay; Museum Veluwezoom Museum, Doorwerth Castle, Holland.
The individual exhibition Dreams and metaphors was shown at the
Omar Alonso Gallery, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
An individual exhibition comprised by a selection of photographs from Flor was presented at the Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, USA.
Paris Photo, Art75 Yves Di Maria Gallery, Paris, France, featured a selection of photographs from Flor and Witnesses of time; during Photo Month, Art75 Yves Di Maria Gallery, Paris, France, presented a selection of photographs from Flor and Witnesses of time.
2005
The individual exhibition Witnesses of time was staged at the Lowe Art Gallery, Syracuse University, Syracuse, USA; Contemporary Art Center, Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland; Huret & Spector Gallery, Emerson College, Boston, USA.
An individual exhibition composed by a selection of photographs from Flor was presented at the Etherton Gallery, Tucson, USA.
The individual exhibition Flor was staged at the National Museum of Art, La Paz, Bolivia; The Outside Eye Photography Center, Lima, Peru; General Department of Museums, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Marta Traba Gallery, Latin American Memorial of São Paulo, Brazil; Mai Manó, House of Photography, Budapest, Hungary.
An individual exhibition comprised by a selection of photographs from Silent natures was presented at the Omar Alonso Gallery, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
The Silent natures individual exhibition was shown at Spazio Officina, Chiasso, Switzerland.
Collective exhibition Children of the World: Witness for Tomorrow at the NTV, Tokyo, Japan.
Collective exhibition Classic Beauty, Throckmorton Gallery, New York, USA.
2006
The exhibition entitled Flor was presented at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, USA; Museum of Rome in Trastevere, Rome, Italy.
A collective exhibition composed by a selection of photographs from Fantastic women was shown at the Photography Biennial in Brescia, Italy.
The collective exhibition entitled Mexican Photographs was shown at the Photography Biennial in Brescia, Italy.
Ken Damy’s Collection Exhibition, Ken Damy Museum, Brescia, Italy.
Collective exhibition Common Ground: Discovering Community in 150 Years of Art, Raleigh, USA (organized by the Corcoran Gallery Washington D.C.).
Collective exhibition The Age of Innocence, Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery, Dallas, USA.
2007
An individual exhibition comprised by a selection of photographs from Fantastic women was held at the Fahey Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, USA.
Riva Yares Gallery, Santa Fe, USA.
An individual exhibition of a selection of photographs from Flor
was staged at the Guilford College Art Gallery, Greensboro, USA.
The individual exhibition Witnesses of time was held at the Portuguese Photography Center, Porto, Portugal.
The collective exhibition Both Sides of the Camera was staged at Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine, USA, with photographs from the collection of Judith Ellis Glickman.
2008
The Witnesses of time individual exhibition was staged at the Portuguese Photography Center, Porto, Portugal.
An individual exhibition of a selection of photographs from Fantastic women was presented at: Etherton Gallery, Tucson, USA; Throckmorton Gallery, New York, USA.
An individual exhibition of a selection of photographs from Flor
was staged at the Holden Luntz Gallery, Palm Beach, USA.
Flor participated in collective exhibitions at the International Contemporary Art Fair, ARCO, Visor Valencia Gallery, Madrid, Spain; Photo Miami, Throckmorton Gallery, Holden Luntz Gallery, Miami, USA; Basel Art Fair, Ediciones Polígrafa, Basel, Switzerland.
The collective exhibition Transmigrations: Four Mexican Photographers in Europe was presented at the Cultural Institute of Mexico, Paris, France.
2009
Collective exhibition Photo Twenty. Masters of 20th Century Photography, Museum of Art, Lugano, Switzerland.
Collective exhibitions at the International Contemporary Art Fair, ARCO Visor Gallery, Madrid, Spain; Photo Miami, Visor Valencia Gallery, Miami, USA.
An individual exhibition composed by a selection of photographs from Fantastic women was held at the Throckmorton Gallery, New York, USA.
An individual exhibition involving a selection of photographs from Fantastic women was presented at the Cultural Center in Dallas, USA.
An individual exhibition comprised by a selection of photographs from Fantastic women was staged at the Thessa Harold Gallery in Paris, France.
2010
Collective exhibition XVI Encuentros Abiertos, Festival de la Luz, Argentina; 2010 SF Camerawork Benefit Auction, San Francisco, USA; Viva México, The Wittliff Collections, San Marco, Texas, USA.
An individual exhibition composed by a selection of photographs from Fantastic women was held at the Omar Alonso Gallery, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Flor participated in collective exhibitions at the International Contemporary Art Fair, ARCO, Visor Valencia Gallery, Madrid, Spain; Nature Mortae at the Photographica Fine Art in Lugano, Switzerland; Paris Photo, Galleria Forma, Paris, France; AIPAD, Throckmorton Fine Art, New York and Therry Etherton Gallery, Tucson, USA; Photo Miami, Visor Valencia Gallery, Miami, USA; ; Miradas sin rendición, INAH, Exposicións Bicentenario, Guanajuato, Mexico; Fotografia=Historia, Festival GuatePhoto, La Fototeca, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Flor published Trilogy, a collection of her works for the 30th anniversary of her activity. The book is composed by a selection of photographs from Bestiarium, Fantastic woman and Silent Natures
Flor received the photography award “Coinversiones” from FONCA Fondo National Para la Cultura y las Artes Creador Intelectual, Mexico.
2011
Flor participaded in collective exhibitions at AAA Affordable Art Fair Galleria Photographica Fine Art, Milano, Italy; AIPAD, Throckmorton Fine Art, New York, USA; Mujeres Detrás De La Lente. 100 Años de Creación Fotográfica en México 1010-2010, Centro Cultural Tijuana, El Cubo, Tijuana, Baja California Norte, México.
An individual exhibition Trilogy, Ex Convento de Santo Domingo, Oaxaca, Mexico.
An individual exhibition Trilogy, Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, Mexico City, Mexico.
2012
Flor participated in collective exhibitions at the Enigma della modernità. Visarte Ticino-Zurigo: 10 proposte. VISARTE, SpazioOfficina, Chiasso, Switzerland; AIPAD, Throckmorton Fine Art, New York, USA; Feria MACO, México Arte Contemporáneo, Galería de Arte Mexicano; Photo Fair, Moscú, Rusia; Portugalidade: Visões Alegóricas, photos from the Coleção Nacional de Fotografia, Sala de exposiciões Aurélio dos Reis, Centro Português de Fotografia, Lisboa, Portugal; El Cicle de la Vida. Música Antiga en el Solcs de L’Art Contemporani, Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, Spain, Mujeres Detrás De La Lente. 100 Años de Creación Fotográfica en México 1010-2010, Museo Arocena, Torreón, Coahuila, México.
An individual exhibition Trilogy, Ex Convento de Santo Domingo, Oaxaca, Mexico.
An individual exhibition Trilogy, Museo Arocena, Torreón, Coahuila, México.
An individual exhibition Inner Light – Flor, Testigos del Tiempo,
Gallery of Classic Photography, Moscow, Russia.
Publication of Los Ojos del Tiempo, sixth edition of the Mexico’s Photography pocket diary.