Art of Gilbert Atencio
June 09, 2008 until June 30, 2008
Gilbert Atencio (Wah Peen) was born in 1930 in Greeley, Colorado and died in April of 1995. He was the son of Isabel M. Montoya and the nephew of Maria Martinez. He was educated at San Ildefonso Day School and graduated from the Santa Fe Indian School in 1947. He served in the U. S. Marine Corp, worked as a medical and technical illustrator at Los Alamos National Labs, and lived most of his life in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Much of Atencio\'s inspiration for paintings came from stories his aunts told him about their lives. His style varied from the traditional flat style done early in his career, to abstract or semi-abstract paintings done in the 1980s. Towards the end of his life Atencio said about his work: