Visual artist Frany Arteaga was kidnapped by a group of individuals from the Casa Natalia gallery, located in Guadalajara’s Revolución neighborhood, last Wednesday, August 27. Her disappearance was reported to the authorities and a wanted file is still pending.
In the same incident that occurred on Corregidora Street, between Medrano and Aldama Streets, attorney Gustavo Torres Reyes, 42, was also detained. He is of robust build, 1.65 meters tall, and has a light brown complexion. He has the following distinguishing features: a small scar between his face and neck on the left side and short, straight, black hair.
Francisca Arteaga Mendoza, 35, studied Visual Arts at the University Center for Art, Architecture, and Design (CUADD) of the University of Guadalajara (UdeG). She is a painter, tattoo artist, and children’s drawing teacher at the same gallery.
Frany, born on August 14, 1990, has dark skin and is 5’6″ tall. Distinguishing features include tattoos on her arms (a musical note, a dragon, and a butterfly) and wings on her back.
Works of Fantasy, Magic, and Mysticism
Her artistic career began in 2012 with group exhibitions, participating in at least two or three per year. Her work focuses on themes such as fantasy, magic, and mysticism.
Through her painting, figure creation, and illustration, she explores expression with poetic imagery, dualities, romanticism, and spirituality. Her main inspiration is introspection and music, and her favorite artistic movements are fantasy, narrative, poetic, and surrealist art.
Dolores Mendoza, Frany’s mother, recounted that she last saw her daughter the morning of her disappearance, before they both left for work.
“Wednesday morning before I went to work. Because I left first and she left later. So, later I was waiting for her, and well, no, she didn’t arrive,” she explained.
The artist’s mother indicated that her daughter worked at the gallery as a teacher of drawing and painting workshops for children.
“She’s a drawing teacher there at the gallery. She also painted. Around that time (when she was taken), later in the day, she used to teach a course or workshop or class to children. Saturdays were open all day,” she explained.
Dolores stated that her instinct tells her Frany is alive and her main request to the authorities is to search for her and find her.
“She knows I love her very much and miss her,” was the mother’s message to her daughter.
Guadalajara’s artistic community demands her return alive.
The artistic and cultural community of Guadalajara issued an urgent statement demanding the return of Frany Arteaga, who disappeared last week from a gallery where she taught workshops for children.
Under the slogan “Culture is not silent!”, the statement addresses collectives, galleries, museums, artists, and organizers, emphasizing that Frany’s disappearance is not only a personal loss, but a direct attack on “free culture, safe spaces for creation, and the very life that art celebrates.”
The document identifies Francisca Arteaga, a graduate of the Bachelor of Fine Arts from CUAAD (UdeG), as an artist dedicated to the creative act, sensitive education, and community building through art. The artistic community demands that the authorities act immediately and effectively, and that those responsible be punished.
They urged actions such as the creation of posters, stencils, and urban interventions, and warned that any message claiming that the family does not authorize their dissemination is false.
They announced a “cacerolazo” (a pot-banging protest), a performance and symbolic protest to raise awareness of the demand for Frany’s search and return alive. This protest will take place this Thursday, September 4th, at 7:00 PM at 684 Independencia Street in downtown Guadalajara.
The artistic community also demands that the University of Guadalajara and the CUAAD assume their responsibility and strongly join the demand for justice.
Source: proceso
