Artist Octavio Ocampo was born in Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico on February 28, 1943. He was educated at the Fine Art Institute, Mexico City and the San Francisco Art Institute, graduating in 1974. He has been exhibiting since 1972.

His work is in major collections in Mexico, the National Palace and the collections of the last three presidents. In Europe that great collector, the late Florence Gould, had a landscape of the New York skyline from her apartment, at her house at Cap D'Antibes; H.M. The King of Spain is also a great admirer.

The talents of Octavio Ocampo were not limited to painting and sculpture but also extended to acting and dancing. While at the Art Institute of San Francisco, he studied all these disciplines and pursued both a film and theater career. In 1976 he began to devote himself solely to painting and sculpture.

Celebrity portraits for which Ocampo has been commissioned in the United States include President Jimmy Carter (commissioned by President Lopez Portillo and was presented as a gift from the United Mexican States), Jane Fonda, Cher (for the front and back covers of her latest album), and Cesar Chavez.

Ocampo now works and resides in Tepoztlan, north of Mexico City, it is considered to be one of the most magical places on earth.

He works primarily in the metamorphic style - using a technique of superimposing and juxtaposing realistic and figurative details within the images that he creates.
 

[Return to The Art of Octavio Ocampo]