Daniel Guzmán: Art as a Space of Total Freedom

In a 2009 interview with Damian Ortega for Art Press, Mexican artist Daniel Guzmán discusses his relationship with counterculture figures, his autodidact formation, and his conception of art as a space of total freedom. Guzmán cites influences ranging from Roberto Bolaño and Octavio Paz to William Burroughs and Pasolini, and explains how his working-class upbringing in Mexico City and his mother's rural origins in Oaxaca shape his practice. He rejects simplistic labels of 'youth art' and insists on art as a tool for living, mixing high and low culture, from Cézanne to Mexican comics like Kalimán. Guzmán describes his studio as a laboratory for emotional experimentation, where visceral energy and personal experience converge. He addresses the political dimension of his work, particularly around sexuality and class, while refusing to be a spokesperson for any ideology. Born in 1964, Guzmán lives and works in Mexico City and has shown at Kurimanzutto, New Museum, and Lombard-Fried Projects.