Biography

Arroyo is the artist and creator of the Calavera Mexicana® project. Daughter of an architect and descendant of a family of cabinetmakers, her childhood was surrounded by architectural design projects, structures, engineering and art, which led her to develop technical skills that she complemented with her sensitivity and passion for aesthetics, culture and art.

His artistic practice dates back to his studies at Cedart Diego Rivera (Centro de estudios artísticos Diego Rivera del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes), where he learned basic concepts and, above all, the constant practice of different artistic expressions. She later studied a Bachelor’s Degree in Design at the School of Design of the National Institute of Fine Arts, as well as a Master’s Degree at the San Carlos Academy of the UNAM, which gave him the tools and skills of management, critical thinking and research applied to personal developments in the artistic field.

Throughout her artistic practice she has developed projects in the areas of art, technologies applied to graphic and industrial design, and has also worked as an entrepreneur in cultural matters. She has also been a teacher, researcher and manager of cultural issues.

She is currently developing the Calavera Mexicana® project with the objective of making this symbol of Mexican culture visible, contributing his own elements and vision.

“Perla Arroyo affirms her Mexicanness in the recognition of contributions from other latitudes. Her will to know is complemented and enriched by the views of those others who are interlocutors and not adversaries. The sustained character, the integral nature of Nahuatl thought, constitute the backbone of her visual reflections, which make her a worthy heir of the ancient tlamatinime, those wise men from afar who “knew things”, and tlacuiloque, those who wrote while painting, or in this case sculpting and modeling in 3D. His is a contemporary look, a kind of syncretism that emphasizes, I insist, dynamic continuity, because change is an immanent value to this philosophy, where accidents and chance are valued and incorporated into the flow of the represented reality, as an image, as a reflection. Inspired by the principles of universal art and humanist concepts, she recreates her work enriched by the most exquisite ancestral and artisanal techniques that give each work a presence of eternal life. This is the universe full of meaning of Calavera Mexicana.”
Luis Ignacio Sáinz

“..In my work lives the legacy of the Baroque Vanitas, the ancestral art of great cultures, but above all the immanent beauty and grandeur of the Mesoamerican civilizations. For me, Calavera Mexicana is a symbol of life and, at the same time, a cultural force where, since time immemorial, our unique identity and beauty reside.”
Perla Arroyo

Arroyo has participated in multiple exhibitions, notably at the Academia de San Carlos and the Museo de Arte de la Ciudad de Querétaro, among others. She recently took part in the Salon du Connaisseur in Madrid. Arroyo is also a member of the Cultural Council of the Coyoacán Mayor’s Office in Mexico City. Her work has been exhibited at Gómez Molina Jewelers in Marbella and at the Jorge Alcolea Gallery in Madrid.

The Skull in the history of Mexican art has had a preponderant role that goes beyond popular culture and the myth of festive death, the sugar skull on Day of the Dead and the Catrina of Manilla, Posada, Diego and Frida. Its importance lies in its spiritual and religious character, represented in pre-Hispanic times – aesthetically and majestically embodied in works of worship to life -, which have made it transcend in time as a cultural power of beauty and aesthetics that now seeks its manifestation in this sculptural series created by the artist Perla Arroyo.

Trajectory

INSTITUTIONAL / NATIONAL / PUBLIC SECTOR EXHIBITIONS
  • Casa Jaime Sabines. Álvaro Obregón Borough, Mexico City. Group exhibition: “Es la sombra del agua” (“It Is the Shadow of Water”). Centennial of poet Jaime Sabines. August 29–December 30, 2026.
  • Museo de la Cancillería. Instituto Matías Romero, Mexico City. Solo exhibition: “Calavera Mexicana: Identidad y Memoria” (“Mexican Skull: Identity and Memory”). May 4–June 26, 2026.
  • Casa Jaime Sabines. Álvaro Obregón Borough, Mexico City. Group exhibition: “Las voces de los sin voz” (“The Voices of the Voiceless”). Tribute to Elena Poniatowska Amor. March 19–July 6, 2026.
  • Museo Federico Silva, Contemporary Sculpture, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Solo exhibition: “Calavera Mexicana” (“Mexican Skull”). September 19, 2025–January 18, 2026.
  • Casa Jaime Sabines. Álvaro Obregón Borough, Mexico City. Group exhibition: “La Muerte y los Muertos en la poética de José Gorostiza” (“Death and the Dead in the Poetics of José Gorostiza”). Tribute to Francisco Leñero and Irma Palacios. November 6, 2025–April 6, 2026.
  • Museo de la Mujer, UNAM–UNIFEM–FEMU, Mexico City. Solo exhibition: “Calavera Mexicana” (“Mexican Skull”). September 6–October 31, 2025.
  • Galería del Tiempo, UAM Azcapotzalco, Mexico City. Solo exhibition: “Calavera Mexicana” (“Mexican Skull”). March 11–April 11, 2025.
  • Casa de la Cultura Jesús Reyes Heroles, Galería Miguel Álvarez Acosta, Mexico City. Solo exhibition: “Calavera Mexicana” (“Mexican Skull”). October 16–November 17, 2024.
  • Casa Nuestra, former seat of the Senado de la República, Mexico City. Solo exhibition: “Calavera Mexicana: Símbolo de vida” (“Mexican Skull: Symbol of Life”). Curator: Luis Ignacio Sáinz. Coordinator: Salvador Vera. October 15–November 17, 2023.
  • Casa Marie José y Octavio Paz, Mexico City. Solo exhibition: “Calavera Mexicana: Símbolo de vida y muerte” (“Mexican Skull: Symbol of Life and Death”). Curator: Mónica H. Arrieta. Coordinator: Leticia Luna. October 27–November 7, 2023.
  • Casa de la Cultura Jesús Reyes Heroles, Salón Morelos, Mexico City. Lecture series on the skull in the history of Mexican art, with an exhibition of pieces from the Calavera Mexicana series. Participants: Luis Ignacio Sáinz and Hilda Trujillo Soto. November 1–December 17, 2021.
  • Academia de San Carlos, Mexico City. Temporary group exhibition, 2008.
  • Museo de Arte de la Ciudad de Querétaro. Temporary group exhibition, 2009.
FAIRS / INTERNATIONAL
  • Salon du Connaisseur, Madrid, Spain, in collaboration with Jorge Alcolea Gallery, Madrid. 2022.
GALLERIES / INTERNATIONAL
  • Joyería Gómez Molina, Marbella, Spain. 2022–2024.
  • Jorge Alcolea Gallery, Madrid, Spain. 2022.
GALLERIES / NATIONAL
  • Galería Claroscuro, Mexico City. Group exhibition: “ARTWEEK México”. January–February 2024.
  • EM Art Gallery, Centro Cultural Pedregal, Mexico City. Group exhibition: “Colección especial” (“Special Collection”). December 6–12, 2024.
  • Claroscuro Gallery, Mexico City. Group exhibition: “Arte para llevar” (“Art to Go”). November 30–December 4, 2024.
  • Uniq Luxury Art, Park Plaza, Mexico City. Group exhibition: “Internal Reflections”. March–June 2024.
  • Casa Dot, in collaboration with the Dot Day Night Festival, “Cuarto de Máquinas” by Galería Hilario Galguera and Perla Gálvez, Mexico City. Group exhibition: “All We Ever Wanted Was Everything”. November 2–December 4, 2023.
  • Gallery at the Hotel Boutique Real, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. Group exhibition: “Real”. December 15, 2023–February 10, 2024.
  • Galería Babel, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. Group exhibition: “Revolution”. September 23–October 13, 2023.
  • Galería Babel, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. Group exhibition: “History”. August 16–September 17, 2023.

BOOK PRESENTATIONS

 

  • FILIP, Puebla International Book Fair. August 19, 2026. Puebla, Puebla.
    Panel: Gerardo Valenzuela and Perla Arroyo.
  • FIL, Guadalajara International Book Fair. November 29, 2025. Guadalajara, Jalisco.
    Panel: Perla Arroyo, Cecilia Santos, Humberto Baca, and Luis Ignacio Sáinz.
  • LibroFest Metropolitano, 12th UAM Azcapotzalco Metropolitan Book Festival. November 11, 2025. Mexico City.
    Panel: Lilia Prado, Carlos García, Luis Ignacio Sáinz, and Perla Arroyo.
  • FILAH, International Book Fair of Anthropology and History. Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City. September 23, 2025.
    Panel: Perla Arroyo, Luis Ignacio Sáinz and Andree Orozco.
  • Festival Camino al Tlalocan, Galería Pepé Arenas. April 26, 2025. Zacatlán, Puebla, Mexico.
    Panel: Perla Arroyo, Luis Ignacio Sáinz and José Antonio Lugo.
  • FILCO, Coyoacán International Book Fair, Mexico City. Presentation of the book Arroyo, Calavera Mexicana. March 11, 2025.
    Panel: Perla Arroyo, Rodrigo Garza Arreola, Obed González.
  • Cafebrería El Péndulo, bookstore, Mexico City. Presentation of the book Arroyo, Calavera Mexicana and exhibition of two pieces from the Calavera Mexicana series. January 20, 2025.
    Panel: Perla Arroyo, Luis Ignacio Sáinz, José Antonio Lugo, Esteban García Brosseau.
  • Museo de la Cancillería. Presentation of the book Arroyo, Calavera Mexicana and exhibition of two pieces from the Calavera Mexicana series. November 17, 2024.
    Panel: Luis Ignacio Sáinz, José Antonio Lugo, Martha Meneses, Lilia Barcachano.
  • Casa de la Cultura Jesús Reyes Heroles. Presentation of the book Arroyo, Calavera Mexicana and exhibition of two pieces from the Calavera Mexicana series. October 23, 2024 / November 20, 2024.
    Panel: Perla Arroyo, Luis Ignacio Sáinz, Lilia Barbachano, Gabriela Maldonado, Elsa Arroyo.