Lorenzo Manuel Durán (Cáceres, Spain, 1969) has grown and lived between Düsseldorf (Germany), Madrid and Guadalajara (Spain). He studied Technical Drawing although he later worked in various fields far from his artistic creativity, and staying for a long time as what they call vertical or rope access worker, in the construction sector.

At age 36, Lorenzo M. Durán found out that he had left aside two of his true passions: art and nature. It was then that he began his journey as a self-taught artist. His awareness came one day, in 2005, when unemployment appeared in his path, providing him with lots of time to think about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, and then he began living an existential metamorphosis which has turned him into a man who is increasingly aware of his inside, his shadow, and who attempts to communicate with all of that by using his personal tools, in a creative field.

Once Lorenzo took this path he decided to start by the classic Oil on canvas, from which he never entirely separates, but he would get a new inspiration later on (in the summer of 2006) when a caterpillar, eating a leaf, would give him the idea of changing the canvases by plant leaves. That opened a world of possibilities that the artist has been exploring since then.

Failing to find information about "leaf cutting art", back in 2006-2008, Lorenzo developed his own technique for doing it, going through a long trial-and-error process until he found a good way of cutting his designs so that they could be framed and preserved for several years, as any other work of art.

Exhibitions

2017-2021. Cut up/Cut out - National Tour. Bedford Gallery, Wallnut Creek, CA. Group exhibition – USA

• 2020-21. Carnegie Arts Center, Turlock, CA
• 2020. Massillon Museum, Massillon, OH
•    2020. Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH
•    2019. Art Museum of West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
• 2019. Amarillo Museum of Art, Amarillo, TX
• 2019. Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
• 2019. Museum of Art & Sciences, Daytona Beach, FL
• 2018. Ellen Noël Art Museum, Odessa, TX
• 2018. Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola, FL
• 2017-18. Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL
• 2017. Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA

2016. Enough to Swear By. Morlan Gallery-Transylvania University, Lexington, KY. Group exhibition – USA

2016. IV ALEF (Americas Latino Eco Festival). McNichols Civic Center, Denver, CO. Group exhibition – USA

2015. Only Unusual. Only Art Club Gallery, Hamburg. Group exhibition - Germany

2014-2015. Branching Out: Trees as Art. The Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts. Group exhibition – USA

2014. Exile: A Living of Forest. ONCA Gallery, Brighton, Exposición colectiva – Reino Unido

2014. Butterflies. Berkshire Museum, Massachusetts, Group exhibition – USA

2014. The Skull Show. Bedford Gallery, California. Group exhibition – USA

2014. Dynamite Gallery, Brighton. Group exhibition – United Kingdom

2014. Soplo de Esperanza. ALEF y Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad de Colorado, Boulder, CO. Solo exhibition – USA

2013. Exposición de Otoño. La Demba Arte-Hotel & Restaurante, Abizanda, Huesca. Solo exhibition – Spain

2013. QR Art Lab, FESCIGU 2013. Auditorio Buero Vallejo, Guadalajara. Live demo and group exhibition – Spain

2013. Art Berkhout. Berkhouter Kert. Group exhibition – The Netherlands

2012-2013. Hoja. Jardín Botánico de Jerusalén. Solo exhibition – Israel

2012. Mono no aware. Bo Lee Gallery, Bath. Group exhibition – United Kingdom

2011.  Treebus, 2 Festival Internacional de Ecoarte, Cuenca. Group Exhibition – Spain

2006. IX Concurso Fermín Santos. Sigüenza, Guadalajara. Group Exhibition – Spain

Public and private collections

"Lazos" (leaf cutting). The Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts – USA

"El nudo de la vida" (leaf cutting). MacS, Museo Arte Contemporanea Sicilia – Italy

"Entre cielo y tierra" (oil painting). Museu Europeu d'Art Modern, MEAM - Spain

Commissions (selection)

• Wardour Communications Ltd, front and back covers of “Arup Design Book” – United Kingdom
• Klein & Russo, campaign “Finanziamenti BNL green” for Banca Nazionale del Lavoro – Italy
• Americas Latino Eco-Festival, Denver/Boulder, Colorado – USA
• The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, Israel
• YKS, company logo, Brazil
• DDB Shanghai, environmental campaign – China

Publications (selection)

• Arup Design Book (2015). Published by Wardour Communications Ltd. Cover and back of the book – United Kingdom
• Smallest Leaf, A collection of poetry. By Lisa Toth Salinas. Cover of the book – USA
• Plant Kingdom. Book published by SendPoints Publishing Co.,Ltd – China
• Calendario 2015 para McLeod Russel. Published and designed by Mophysis Communications – India
• Big Art / Small Art. Book published by Thames and Hudson Ltd – United Kingdom