Gilberto Aceves Navarro was one of the most important and prolific Mexican artists in the last six decades. With numerous recognitions for his work as a painter, sculptor, muralist and printmaker, including the 2003 National Prize for Sciences and Arts.

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Gilberto, also known as “El Maestro” mentioned in an interview that I am like a painting that he has been painting since I was born.

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I always gravitated around my father and his fascinating world, despite moving to New York in the early 90s. Possibly it was because of that same physical distance that in 2003 I began to film every trip we made and every visit we made to each other's country of residence.

And so  The last 18 years of our life passed together. I compiled more than 300 hours of material filmed in all kinds of formats and that portrays multiple aspects of my father's life and career, but that also observes our relationship as father-son, son-disciple, son-caregiver and my new reality of son-orphan, as well as my personal search for identity as an artist.  

Through direct questions and formal interviews, as well as talks in which I simply left the camera recording while we got drunk and talked about everything and nothing, my father shared with me a treasure trove of ideas and concepts (both artistic and in terms of vision). life) ... but above all, he reveals to me -and through my lens now to us as well- in loving ways and sometimes not so much, his very particular and captivating way of seeing and interpreting everything, often saying that to know how to paint (Serve as a metaphor for "living"), you have to be aware of the ten thousand things that are behind each of the ten thousand things that surround you.  

So for me it is enough to call this story: GILBERTO. Name what, far from being small, simple or straightforward, is beautiful, and that in the words of the secretary of the civil registry (who suggested that my father be called that way because it is the name of her boyfriend) is, "the name of love "

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Juan Aceves, 2021