Artist Talk & Demonstration with Edgar Cano

Join us on Friday, February 20, as Manifest Drawing Center hosts artist Edgar Cano for a 3-hour public artist talk and figure-drawing demonstration (including a 30-minute intermission). Cano will work from a live model while unpacking his gestural approach—showing how the body, the hand, and the material itself work together to create expressive, energetic marks. Attendees will see his process unfold in real time and are encouraged to ask questions as the drawing develops.

This event kicks off Cano’s weekend workshop, The Expressive Hand: Gesture, Figure & Materials, and offers a rare chance to watch his technique up close.
Open to the public. More details at www.manifestdrawingcenter.org.

About the Artist:

Edgar Cano began his career in the visual arts creating illustrations and scenography for university theater while studying at the Faculty of Arts in Xalapa, Veracruz (UV). Over more than two decades of professional practice, he has been distinguished in numerous national and international competitions. In 2025, he received both the Gottlieb Foundation Grant (New York) and the South Arts Fellowship. He has been a member of Mexico’s National System of Art Creators (FONCA–SNCA) twice, first in 2014 and again in 2021 for a major new painting project. His recent honors include the Grand Jury Award, Manifest Gallery (Season 20, 2024), Best in Show at the 61st Juried Show of the Masur Museum (Monroe, LA, 2024), and Best in Show at the 16th Surreal Salon, Baton Rouge Gallery (2024). In 2018, he received a grant from the FONCA Promotion and Co-investment Program for his exhibition El Centro Único. He served as a juror for the National System of Art Creators (FONCA) in 2018 and 2023 and was also a juror for the Alfredo Zalce Biennial in Morelia. Additional fellowships include FONCA Young Creators (2010, 2012) and PECDA Veracruz (2005, 2009).
To date, Cano has presented 18 solo exhibitions in Mexico and abroad and been included in over 50 group exhibitions internationally, with exhibitions in Argentina, Canada, England, Italy, Japan, the United States, Serbia, and Sweden. His work is held in major public and private collections including MACO Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca, Museo Nacional de la Estampa (MUNAE), Mexico City, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Alfredo Zalce (MACAZ), the Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca (IAGO), the José Guadalupe Posada Museum, IVEC Veracruz, the International Art Studio Radovan Tranavac Mica (Serbia), La Ceiba Gráfica, the Luciano Benetton Collection (Italy), Grupo Milenio Collection, the Jagüey Institute, Friday Cottage Art Space (South Carolina), and the Northwestern State University of Louisiana Art Collection, among other private collections. Edgar Cano received his MA in Visual Arts from Northwestern State University of Louisiana, where he attended with a full scholarship. He lives with his family in Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he works as an Artist and Assistant Professor of Art at NSULA.

Manifest's mission is to stand for quality in the visual arts, as well as the importance of creative research, meaningful and accessible art-based experiences for the public, deep learning, and the rigorous documentation of exceptional art for posterity.

Our Drawing Center promotes and explores drawing, photography, and related activities as rich and culturally significant art forms through the pursuit of educational hands-on activities focused on visual literacy, critical thinking, and skill development.

Manifest's new facility, "M1" at 3464 Central Parkway, provides multiple studio classrooms, private lesson space, a darkroom, a film processing room, and a multi-purpose lecture and class meeting space as well as on-site parking, grounds, and exterior spaces in which to relax, discuss, and make art. The studios are outfitted with professional equipment, furniture, and study aids.

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