Paulina Carretero is an artist based in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, whose work spans multiple mediums including oil painting, acrylics, watercolor, graphic art and sculpture. She has a background in interior design and advanced studies in architectural design in London, England.
Malena Charur/Laredo Morning Times
El Juego de la Consciencia. Artwork by Paulina Carretero.
Courteys/Paulina Carretero
A painting by Paulina Carretero, inspired by the work of Artemisia Gentileschi, is displayed at the Laredo Center for the Arts as part of the exhibition Reminiscence and Furor in March 2026. The exhibition will be on view at La Posada Hotel beginning May 8, 2026.
Malena Charur/Laredo Morning Times
A painting by Paulina Carretero, inspired by the work of Tamara de Lempicka, is displayed at the Laredo Center for the Arts as part of the exhibition Reminiscence and Furor in March 2026. The exhibition will be on view at La Posada Hotel beginning May 8, 2026.
Malena Charur/Laredo Morning Times
A painting by Paulina Carretero, inspired by the work of Remedios Varo, is displayed at the Laredo Center for the Arts as part of the exhibition Reminiscence and Furor in March 2026. The exhibition will be on view at La Posada Hotel beginning May 8, 2026.
Malena Charur/Laredo Morning Times
The exhibition Reminiscence and Furor by Mexican artist Paulina Carretero, which has been on display at the Laredo Center for the Arts, will move to a new venue, La Posada Hotel, starting May 8.
Carretero will mark the closing of the exhibition at the Laredo Center for the Arts at 6 p.m. Friday, May 1.
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The exhibit, which opened in March to celebrate International Women’s Month, pays tribute to seven women artists throughout history, celebrating their influence and legacy through a collection of paintings in which she has captured her own vision of their works.
“Each of these women paved the way during an era when women’s voices in the arts were limited or ignored,” she said. “Drawing from my own memory and through contemporary reflection, I present this exhibition with profound admiration for these women.”
She noted that she originally had a list of nearly 30 women but narrowed it down to seven to truly honor their work.
“I studied them conscientiously, examining how they painted, why they painted in a certain way and how they exhibited their work — specifically regarding when they were actually able to exhibit during their respective eras. This was because, whenever I sat down in front of a canvas, I would ask myself: ‘How would one of these artists have painted this image?’” she said.
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Carretero spent more than a year completing the collection.
The painters featured in this exhibition represent a diverse range of nationalities, eras and artistic styles include:
Artemisia Gentileschi.
Berthe Morisot.
Georgia O’Keeffe.
Tamara de Lempicka.
María Izquierdo.
Remedios Varo.
Yayoi Kusama.
The exhibition includes two paintings for each artist: one in which Carretero has attempted to capture the true spirit of the artist being depicted and another reflecting her own personal vision, shaped by the life and work of each individual subject.
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“It is an honor for me to represent them, to speak about them and to give them a place within my own artistic career,” she said. “The common thread that led me to choose each of them was the fact that, in their own time, they were oppressed or cast aside by society or prevailing beliefs.”
Additionally, Paulina frames her exhibition with a large-format painting titled El Juego de la Consciencia (The Game of Consciousness), which features vivid colors as well as human figures, animals, living nature and furniture — along with other elements that demonstrate the influence of magical realism and invite contemplation.
In her artist statement regarding this piece, she has written: “Nothing is placed at random: a man with a hollow chest holds a compass; a woman keeps time in a cage. He seems to govern space; she, the internal rhythm of cycles. And between the two, a submerged heart — neither living nor dead — waits for someone to look at it without fear.”
She said the work offers no answers, but rather suggests states of being; that everything is mundane, yet nothing adheres to the rules.
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“El Juego de la Consciencia invites us to look with all our senses awakened, to inhabit contradiction and to recognize ourselves, without certainties, within the shifting terrain of the soul,” she said. “For if anything is clear, it is this: consciousness is not a state … it is a dance amidst the veils we slowly lift away.”
She noted that during the creative period for this collection, she had the satisfaction of painting in a variety of styles.
Lola Quesada, an art promoter who attended a discussion with Carretero, said she was impressed by Carretero’s ability to master different styles.
“These are diverse pieces in which Paulina Carretero demonstrated her versatility,” she said. “I also appreciated that she pays tribute to women who went unrecognized in their own time, bringing their art into a contemporary context.”
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Samantha Medina, an actress and teacher, said what she appreciated most was the mystery enveloping the artist’s work and the freedom she granted the viewer to form their own interpretation.
“I loved the use of the color red throughout the pieces, as well as the clear interplay of elements in El Juego de la Consciencia that remain unexplained,” she said. “She was also able to draw inspiration from so many different women and their artwork and then incorporate that into her own art.”
Medina invited the Laredo community to view the exhibition, as it serves as an exploration of ourselves through art.
Carretero is an artist based in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, whose work spans multiple mediums including oil painting, acrylics, watercolor, graphic art and sculpture. She has a background in interior design and advanced studies in architectural design in London, England.
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The closing event of the exhibition at the Laredo Center for the Arts will take place at 6 p.m. Friday, May 1. The Laredo Center for the Arts is located at 500 San Agustin Ave.
The exhibition will continue May 8 at La Posada Hotel, with an opening cocktail reception at 6 p.m. The artwork will remain at this location for three months. La Posada Hotel is located at 1000 Zaragoza St.