As a young woman, Anna-Marie spent years in and out of hospital emergency rooms and state psychiatric institutions before she was diagnosed as suffering from devastating mental disease. Though never a "bad" kid graduating with honors & scholarship. She was a runaway. Picked up by police sent to mental hospitals experiencing things & people that few do at any age. During these times the unknown & misunderstood were tied up in straight jackets thrown into padded rooms. Strapped to cots lit up like light bulbs with electric shock therapy to wake up doing the thorazine shuffle. Even the rather expensive psychiatrist failed at turning her from the homosexul life that was to be in her future. Scorned by a disappointed family for being ‘crazy’ and suffering the stigma Bipolar disorder or Depressive disorder depending on which Dr you listened to, but with diagnosis also came renewal. Lopez’s passion and resolve required her to draw on her experience creatively, and she emerged, as an artist with little regard for niceties but a belly full of resourceful fire.
In the years before wooing the art world with her uncompromised visions of mental health and the life of a Mexican-American gay artist. Lopez’s work had been greeted by galleries throughout the US, as some of the most exceptional, significant paintings produced by a female Latin painter. Her sometimes vehement, blunt and injured portraits and dreamscapes, were fast being collected with Lopez transitioning from obscure to sensational over night, particularly on the back of a recent feature in leading lesbian magazine, Curve, and her controversial piece “Virgin,” the subject of a divisive censorship battle between a local gallery in her native San Antonio and the National Coalition Against Censorship.
Unknowingly she was coming into another phase in her life as a Lrg Tumor was growing in her brain. June 29 2016 after a minor auto accident ER Drs. discovered the brain tumor. Later surgeries, scar tissue & vp Shunt had unwittingly left her vision impaired, experiencing seizures and hand tremors. She continues to paint though many times finding everything emotionally difficult. The Pendamic isolation and inability to drive can be overwhelming at times. But with the encouragement of her partner & strong faith the path leads on.
Past Group Art Shows
Museo Alameda del Smithsonian March 2012
Elder Street Gallery "POR AMOR Al ARTE" Sept 17 2011
PORTRAITS....preternaturally Gallery Art SA. Sept-Oct '10
ART KNOWS NO BORDERS/DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS 5214 W. Sunset Blvd, LA, CA
The Green Gallery 715 Camden St SA, Tx SEPT '08
Congressional Hispanic Institute Latinos In Arts &; Culture
Washington DC The Power to Make the Difference JUL '08
THE MANY FACES OF WOMEN Southwest School of Arts & Crafts SA,Tx 2008
Apr '08 FIRST FRIDAYS Blue Star Exhibit
'08 MONTSERRAT Art Salon Chelsea Art District NYC
'08 “VIRGIN” featured at Oxford University by Professor Yxta Maya Murray
Mar '08 LUMINARIA Arts Night in SA,Tx
Mar '08 ART & PERSUASION - WOMEN IN FLUX SA Main Library
Oct '07 ART OFF OF THE MAIN Exhibit : Columbus Villain or Hero New York, NY
June '07 SA Advertising Federation Auction Blue Star Art Center S.A., Tx
June – Sept '07 “QUE QUEER SA” Esperanza Peace & Justice Center SA, Tx
June '07 PODER Y FUEGO Onda Arte Gallery Portland, Or
Mar '07 San Anto Mural Project, Adriana Garcia Lead Artist S. A., Tx
February – March 2007 Tile Mosaic SA Parks & Recreation Twyla Arthur Lead Artist SA, Tx
Dec '06 – Jan '07 Celebration de Virgin de Guadalupe Centro Cultural Aztlan (painting censored)
November '06 UTSA
UNICEF Art Auction
Oct '06 Urban Art Party Artist Foundation of SA
Oct '06 Carver Cultural Center NALAC Exhibit SA, Tx
Oct '06 TRANSFORMACCIONES Guadalupe Center .
Oct '07 NOCHE BOHEMIA Latin Art Fest Dallas, Tx
Aug '06 CAFÉ PALADOR San Antonio, Tx
July '06 “LA NOCHE” SA Art Auction for Patient’s Fund
Solo Shows
Mar '07 The Gas Gallery SA, Tx
Mar '08 The Great Northwest Library SA, Tx
