Gabriel began exhibiting in Spanish Market as a youth exhibitor at the age of seventeen and has participated in Spanish Market every year since 1994, showing Retablos, and Bultos. In 2004 Gabriel won first place in the small retablos category and 2005 he was awarded second place. In 2006 he was awarded second place, honorable mention in 2007.
Gabriel has conducted presentations regarding the art of retablo making to the youth of Santa Fe , NM and Pheonix, AZ. He has sponsored his cousin, Carlos Andrew Pacheco for eight years while he was in the youth division of Spanish Market.
Gabriel has completed numerous commissions for private collections, including an elaborate alter screen at The Denver Folk Art Museum. In 1998 Gabriel and Gilbert Vigil were commissioned by The City of Santa Fe for a retablo of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, which they presented to Hillary Rodham Clinton. The retablo is now part of the Smithsonian collection. Also included in his commissions are bultos for churches in Taos, NM, Roswell, NM and life-size Stations of the Cross for St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Pheonix, AZ.
Galleries where Gabriel has exhibited his art are: El Potrero Trading Post in Chimayo, NM, Good Hands Gallery, Montez Gallery, Gallery 10, and Rancho de las Golondrinas in Santa Fe, NM, John Isaac's Gallery in Albuquerque, NM, Blue Sage Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ and the Denver Folk Art Museum.
MISSION STATEMENT:
" Being a Santero is a blessing because it is an art of my culture, tradition, and my Catholic religion. I have studied the saints and their lives, and in doing so, I have learned that it is an honor to produce my version of their earthly being. I am fortunate to be a santero of present day because this art form originated centuries ago in Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado. There is only a handful of santeros today who produce this religous art in its traditional artform. It is my calling to keep this artform alive so that it is not forgotten or lost."
- Gabriel J. Vigl
Gabriel James Vigil was born in Raton, New Mexico in 1976; he was raised in Santa Fe, attended public schools and graduated from Santa Fe High School in 1995. Gabriel has one older brother, Antonio, a twin brother Gilbert and a sister Monica. He is the son of Elizabeth Chavez and Raymond Sedillo.
Bulto of San Cristobal
Carved by: Gilbert Vigil
Painted by: Gabriel J. Vigil