Luis Sanchez, a Mexican-born painter, has emerged as an extraordinary talent with his combinations of symbolic physical structures, art history, and contemporary ecology displayed in trompe l’oeil two-dimensional works. Reinventing the ancient process of fresco, he paints details of degraded stucco walls recalled from his childhood in Mexico City. He brings the past to the present, contemplates the future, and reminds us all that the truth to the future lies in the past.

Born in 1968, Sanchez spent the first ten years of his life in Mexico City with his Cuban father, Mexican-Lebanese mother, and older brother and sister. A passionate and diverse family -- including artisans, dancers, and bullfighters -- influenced his early life. At age seven, after demonstrating an innate talent, his parents enrolled him in Mexico’s prestigious Museo De Bellas Artes. In 1979, Sanchez and his family immigrated to the United States.

After graduating from high school in 1987, Sanchez attended the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. While there, he studied Art History and Life and Perspective Drawing. In 1993, after a lifelong battle with kidney disease and years of hemodialysis machines, Sanchez received a successful kidney transplant. Unable to return to his studies, he began to use books to teach himself the subtleties of human anatomy, often sketching up to twelve hours a day. "My transplant was a rebirth. It is difficult to explain, but it certainly puts life, everyone and everything in it, in crystal clear perspective." Energy, discipline, drive, and a palpable life force emanate from him now. Cherishing life, he lives it by design.

In 1994, Sanchez established L.S. Design, a company producing hand-painted frescos. Today, L.S. Design is thriving as a leader in handmade, fine accent designs. Sanchez' attention to detail, his drive and innovation set high standards for this busy operation. These same standards have attracted a diverse, talented, and cohesive staff consisting of a studio coordinator, art assistants, and a production manager. These unique, simulated ceramic botanicals can be found at fine retailers including Nordstrom, Mendocino, and Robb & Stucky, in addition to over one hundred galleries and boutiques in cities across the United States and Canada.

When Sanchez is not working at his business, painting for an exhibition, or working on a commission piece, you will find him playing with language. He spends his time learning about words or jotting down quotes in his journal, which often appear, ghost like, in his paintings, deepening the human story. He is also very active with various charities and has donated works to the Rise and Shine Foundation (children and teens with AIDS), DIFFA (Design Industries Fighting For AIDS), Bellevue Art Museum, and is currently working on forthcoming fundraisers.

Artspeak N.Y., March 1997, stated that Sanchez paints in the "unflinching tradition of Frida Kahlo." The Agora Gallery, New York, feels he "occupies the same eerie, unstable space as a story by Poe or a movement by Mahler." In conversation and on canvas, you see that this Renaissance man is truly an old soul. Symbolism, the living human spirit, and the mirror of truth come alive. The psyche stirs and the viewer is changed, touched, inextricably. Luis Sanchez, at 33 years of age, is an artist to watch.

Selected Exhibitions
2001 Atelier 31 Gallery – “creating Myth from Mud” – sculptures – solo exhibition
Power of Hope Arts program – Whidby Island, WA – leading mask making
workshop for teens
Atelier 31Gallery – “Birds Invitational” in conjunction with Bellevue Art Museum
auction
Bellevue Art Museum Gala Auction – Work Donated – Best of Show

2000 Atelier 31 Gallery – “At a Glimpse” Kirkland, WA – solo exhibition
Fifth Season Gallery – “A Glimpse” – Tracy, California, solo exhibition
Bellevue Art Museum Gala Auction – Bellevue, WA – Work Donated

1999 Atelier 31 Gallery – Kirkland, WA – solo exhibition
Fifth Season Gallery – Tracy, CA – solo exhibition
Gardens & Sun Spaces Gallery – Duvall, WA – group exhibition
New York International Independent Film Festival – Madison Square Garden, NY
– group exhibition

1998 DIFFA Auction to Benefit AIDS Research – Seattle, WA – work donated
King County Gallery – Seattle, WA – solo exhibition
Tule Gallery – Seattle, WA – solo exhibition
Agora Gallery – Soho, NY – group exhibition

1997 Galeria Coqui – Seattle, WA – “Post-Industrial Fresco on Canvas” – solo exhibition

1996 Rise and Shine Auction to Benefit AIDS Research – Seattle, WA – work donated
Spazzo Mediterranean Grill – Bellevue, WA – private exhibition
Gardens and Sun Spaces – Duvall, WA – group exhibition
Nido – Seattle, WA – “Eclectic Works”
Found Objects – Seattle, WA – “Cajas Majicas” – solo exhibitions

1995 Veritables – Seattle, WA – Various Works
San Marino Gallery – Bellevue, WA - medieval collection
Les Arts – Los Angeles, CA

1994 Ethan Harrington Studios – private exhibition
Nido – Seattle, WA – “Retablos”
Found Objects – Seattle, WA – “Icons”

1993 Fast Forward – Seattle, WA

Commissions:
2001 Residential: Garth Macleod – Kirkland, WA

2000 Commercial: Kids N’ Us – learning center – Everett, WA – 10 murals
Residential: Melody Potter – San Francisco, CA

1999 Residential: Garth Mcleod – Kirkland, WA
Residential: Lori Burnett – Everett, WA
Commercial: Kids N’ Us – learning center – Everett, WA – 13 murals

1998 Residential: Richard Tait – Bainbridge Island, WA

1997 Commercial: Café Infinito – Redmond Town Center
Residential: Hal and Francoise Kerry – Seattle, WA