Héctor C. Massiel (b. 1973, Acapulco, Guerrero) is a prominent Mexican painter whose work is emotionally charged and explores powerful figurative and abstract themes. He studied painting at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas (now FAD-UNAM) in Taxco. Over more than two decades, Massiel has participated in over 180 national and international exhibitions across Mexico, the United States, Cuba, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, and Peru.

Massiel’s work has been recognized in major biennials and international contests: he won First Prize in the Ninth Pacific Biennale of Painting & Printmaking “Paul Gauguin” and received Mención Honorífica at the Bienal de Artes Plásticas Alfonso Pérez Romo (2017). He also has a Mención Honorífica from the XII Sinaloa 10×10 National Art Encounter. In 2008 he was awarded Primer Premio Ex Aequo in the Concurso Internacional “Antonio Gualda” (Granada, Spain) and the Memorial Lucía Martínez International Arts Prize.

His work is held in key collections, including Mexico’s Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, the Mexican Embassy in Cuba, the Casa Museo Guayasamín in Cuba, and the Mexican Embassy in Lisbon. In 2016 he presented his first retrospective at Acapulco’s Museo Histórico Fuerte de San Diego, spanning a decade of evolving practice.

He works primarily in mixed media, blending acrylic, oil, and graphite on unconventional supports — especially recycled wood and reclaimed boards — lending his paintings a raw, textured quality. In his evocative fish series, Massiel draws on memories of the sea and the fragility of marine life. By painting fish on discarded boards, he creates a metaphor of environmental decay and human vulnerability: the transformation of waste into art becomes a poignant commentary on resilience and loss.

The work “Fat Fish” displayed here, recently earned him a Premio de Adquisición (Acquisition Prize) at the Sinaloa 10 × 10 National Art Encounter, highlighting both its aesthetic power and its symbolic weight