Maria Lago’s artistic trajectory spans more than four decades, crossing and uniting continents, techniques, and eras of human expression.
Born in Asturias, Spain, just miles from the Paleolithic caves, Maria Lago developed from a young age a visual sensitivity deeply shaped by this ancestral legacy. Her work has always carried a profound connection to symbolism and the primal roots of creation itself.
After studying at the University Complutense and the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, she continued her artistic education at Parsons School of Design and the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop in New York. Though her work is grounded in solid academic training, she has allowed it to be guided by intuition and improvisation. She now lives in Beacon, NY, where she established her studio and gallery over a decade ago. From there, her work continues to weave a living dialogue between time, matter, and presence.
Her paintings and sculptures are profoundly tactilere. Working with materials such as burlap, clay, cement, oil, and acrylic, she constructs richly veiled surfaces that evoke both personal and collective histories. Scraps of earlier works are often sewn into new canvases—acts of recovery and transformation that reflect the cyclical rhythms of life and nature. Her process evokes archaeology: excavating, revealing, and assembling fragments into coherent compositions imbued with resonance.
En la esencia de su creacion artística habita un lenguaje visual simbólico: círculos, gestos caligráficos, estructuras moleculares que aluden a una búsqueda metafísica sobre el origen y la existencia. Su vocabulario expresionista abstracto resulta a la vez atávico y futurista, físico y cósmico. La obra de María Lago irradia una fuente de energía que fusiona la inmediatez urbana con el silencio de lo ancestral.
En una era marcada por la aceleración tecnológica y la precisión digital, el arte de María Lago nos recuerda el poder persistente de la mano humana, de la intuición y la inspiración, en el misterio latente de los materiales orgánicos. Sus obras no solo reflejan el mundo, laten con el espíritu de algo más antiguo y profundo, un lenguaje más allá de las palabras, pero universalmente sentido.
Sus exposiciones en Europa y Estados Unidos, desde el Instituto Cervantes hasta el Heckscher Museum, desde la Bienal de Westchester hasta Merrill Lynch Hispanic Heritage, dan testimonio de un impacto amplio y perdurable. Con obras presentes en colecciones privadas e institucionales en España, México, Inglaterra y Estados Unidos, María Lago continúa involucrando al espectador en una conversación íntima y atemporal sobre el inconsciente, la materia y lo metafísico.
mghlago@gmail.com
Maria Lago
Maria lago was born in Spain and lives in Beacon, New York
Education
1983 Universidad Complutense, Madrid , Spain
1984 Circulo de Bellas Artes , Madrid , Spain
1987 Parsons School of Fine Arts, New York, NY
Publications
2024 Hudson Valley Magazine, Maria Lago abstract work, River Reflections,Grit Gallery,NY
2020 The Highlands Current, From Spain to Main by Allison Rooney, NY
2017 Instituto Cervantes, 30 years retrospective, New York, NY
2017 El Comercio, Asturias, 30 años retrospectiva-pinturas y esculturas, Spain
2017 La Nueva España,Maria Lago in The Cervantes Institute in NY , Asturias, Spain
2017 Poughkeepsie Journal, Latin American art, NY
2015 Hudson Valley Press, The Art work of Maria Lago by Jennifer L.Warren, NY
2014 Kosmos Journal, Co.Creating the new Civilization
2014 Beacon Press, Exhibit Honor Women Artists,Lago "The Cosmic Serpent"
2014 Poughkeepsie Journal, Creative Contributions by Women, by Linda MarstonReid
2014 The Philipstown Paper- Women Artists at the Howland by Kevin E. Foley, NY
2012 ART-TALK Magazine, The Exodus paintings
2012 The Philipstown Paper- About the Exodus Paintings
2011 Chronogam Magazine, Hudson Valley, NY
2011 Asturias daily News, La Nueva España, Asturias, Spain
2008 Fine Arts America "Etchings and Solar Plates Today"
2008 The Rivertowns Enterprise by Judith Doolin Spikes, New York
2008 Catalogue for "The Westchester Biennial ", New York
2007 Asturias daily News, La Nueva España, Asturias, Spain
2006 The New York Sun Newspaper, Solo Show at the NAWA Gallery, New York
2005 Catalogue review by W. Zimmer, contributing critic for The New York Times
2001 Hispanic Heritage Month, by Beatriz de la Mora, Curator, New York
2000 Westchester County Weekly, Westchester, NY
1995 Review for the international exhibition, Winter Olympic Museum, lake Placid, NY
1995 New York Newsday by Jonathan Fine , New York
1993 The Brooklyn Arts Council, Arts Calendar, Brooklyn, New York
1992 V Bienal Nacional de Pintura “La carbonera”, Asturias, Spain
1992 Mujeres Artistas del Principado de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain
1991 Women’s diverse Reflections, Women’s week, Tallahassee, Florida
1991 Manhattan Arts, Artist in the 90”S by Marylyn Becker, New York
1991 Asturias daily News, Hoja De Lunes, Asturias, Spain
1989 Art Business News, New York
1989 Catalogue for “Soho in deSota”, Florida
1989 Tallahassee democrat news by Betty Rubenstein, Tallahassee, Florida
1989 Artspeak ‘The Power and Passion” by Claude LeSue, New York
1988 Consulado General de España, B C, New York
1987 Daily Newspaper, El Correo de Asturias, Asturias, Spain
1987 Noticias Del Mundo by David Boitano, New York
1987 Catalogue for exhibition International Year of the Woman, New York
Individual Exhibitions
2024 Grit Gallery, River Reflections, Newburgh, NY
2022 The abstract work of Maria Lago, Beacon, NY
2020 Gallery at The Falcon, The Ideographic paintings, Marlboro, NY
2017 30 years Retrospective,Sculptures and paintings, Instituto Cervantes, New York, NY
2017 Maria Lago Retrospective, One Main St, Beacon,NY
2016 The Hebrew Tabernacle Congregation, New York, NY
2015 Studio 502, the Wanderers, Beacon, NY
2014 The Falcon, Marlboro, NY
2013 Studio 502, Between Birches/Entre Abedules, Beacon, NY
2013 Studio 502, Journey into Art, Beacon, NY
2012 Studio 502, Brain on fire, Beacon, NY
2012 Studio 502, The Exodus paintings, Beacon, NY
2012 Rhinebeck Bank, Wappinger Falls, NY
2011 Gallery on Cedar, Dobb Ferry, NY
2011 Studio502, Planets and Landscapes, Beacon, NY
2010 Centro Español Manhattan, New York
2009 Sala de Arte del ayuntamiento de Viveiro, Galicia, Spain
2008 Martucci Gallery, Irvington, NY
2008 National Association of Women Artists, New York, NY
2005 Sala de Exposiciones BBVA, Oviedo, Spain
2005 Chelsea Pier Sixty, New York, NY
2004 Public Library, Harrison, NY
2003 Sound Federal Bank, Cos Cob, CT
2003 The Bronxville Public Library, Bronxville, NY
1997 The Greenwich Arts Center, Greenwich, CT
1997 The Chase Manhattan Bank, Brooklyn, NY
1991 The Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn, NY
1989 Straus Gallery, New York, NY
1988 Ledo Gallery, New York, NY
Collective Exhibitions
2024 Mother Earth, The Hebrew Tabernacle Congregation, New York, NY
2022 The Howland Cultural Center, 100th Anniversary of Woman Suffrage
2018 I’m immigrant, Instituto Cervantes, New York, NY
2017 The Howland Cultural Center, Hudson Valley artists, Beacon,NY
2016 The Saunders art project, Collaborative Concepts, Garrison, NY
2015 The Howland Cultural Art Center, Hispanic Heritage, Beacon, NY
2015 Theo Ganz Studio, Beacon, NY
2014 Beacon CD Show, Beacon, NY
2014 Multi-Media Art Expo, The Fourth Universalis Society, New York
2014 Hudson Valley Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
2014 The Howland Cultural Art Center, Women Artists, Beacon, NY
2013 National Juries Art Show, Wide Open, Brooklyn, NY
2012 Centro Español de Manhattan, En Torno a las Mujeres, New York
2012 Theo Ganz Studio, Summer Blues, Beacon, NY
2011 Exhibition Two Colors, Chashama Gallery, New York
2010 Spanish Artists without Borders, Centro Español, New York
2010 Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Langreo, Asturias, Spain
2009 Gallería de Arte Van Dyck, Gijón, Asturias, Spain
2008 Brooklyn Artists GYM Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2008 The Westchester Biennial, the College of New Rochelle, New York
2007 Robert Blackburn Printmaking, New Printings, Solar Plates, New York
2005 Merrill Lynch-Hispanic Heritage, World Financial Center, NY
2005 Merrill Lynch, Princeton, NJ
2005 Chelsea Pier Sixty, New York, NY
2003 Old Greenwich Art Center, Old Greenwich, CT
2001 The Westchester Arts Council, White Plains, NY
2000 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum, Lake Placid, NY
1998 The Art Students League, New York
1998 CNS Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
1997 Pier Show IV, Brooklyn, NY
1997 CNS Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
1996 Pier Show III, Brooklyn, NY
1993 Art Windows Gallery, Chicago, IL
1993 V Biennale Nacional, Asturias, Spain
1993 Barbara Gibson Gallery, Nyack, NY
1992 Sala Baron II, Oviedo, Spain
1992 Tribeca Gallery, New York, NY
1992 Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas
1991 Caja de Ahorros de Asturias, La Felguera, Spain
1991 A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY
1990 The Art Students League, New York
1990 The Heckscher Museum, Huntington, NY
1989 The Tallahassee Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
1989 Straus Gallery, New York, NY
1988 Helio Gallery, East Village, New York, NY
1988 Avanian Gallery,, New York, NY 1988 Ward-Lawrence Gallery, New York, NY
1988 Caja de Ahorros de Asturias, La Felguera, Spain
1988 Irv Fischer Gallery, Detroit, MI
1987 Gallery Picasso Casa de Espana, New York, NY