David Kestenbaum (1965-2013) Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For most of David’s life, he called San Miguel de Allende his home.  Growing up on Calle Quebrada, with his parents, Lothar and Mai, he was surrounded by art and artists from his first memory.  Naturally, he absorbed much from his parents as he observed their disciplined lifestyles that centered on creating and teaching art and living in proximity to their studios.  David received his formal education at the University of Texas in Austin, earning a degree in Art History.

 

 After university, he returned to San Miguel and began his life as an artist and by process of elimination began making sculptures.  His work is known to anyone who has visited the Bellas Artes in the Centro Negromante and has walked by the iconic metal Toro that guards the entrance.  While the Toro was made by welding discarded metal objects together, his sculptures vary in materials; wood and stone carvings, steel, and bronzes, which he cast himself, a skill learned from his father.  

 

His works reinterpret the human figure, animal, and organic forms that surrounded him in his daily life in Mexico.  His pieces from carved wood interpreting human forms are gentle and reflect quiet love.  His works can also be whimsical with wooden homes fit for fairies.  David’s sculptures have been exhibited in Mexico and the United States and are found in many private collections.