Expat Community > Colombia

huepucha
Joined 2022
Posts: 464

in De Los Gordos

1 year ago

Fernando Botero died today. His legacy defines for better or worse the contemporary art of Colombia. During his career he achieved enormous success both economically and in the world of contemporary art during the ‘60s, 70s, and 80s and into the ‘90s. His work has a popular appeal as it was story telling in a semi realistic style with the added humor of the fatties. Interestingly one of his early influences was Alberto Vargas famous for his pinup Vargas Girls published in Esquire Magazine. It isn’t hard to see the connection. Botero was frequently panned by contemporary art critics for adhering to his shtick of the gordos and the simplistic nature of their appeal. At one point when he was called on the carpet for his endless repetition of the theme he countered that El Greco had never changed his style throughout his career so why should he. May he rest in peace. I think it is unfortunate that for years to come Colombian contemporary art will be defined by Botero’s gordos when there are far more important Colombian contemporary artists on the scene including two of my favorites, Doris Salcedo and hot on the scene Óscar Murillo not to mention the late Omar Rayo with his less impactful but fun works in the manner of Trompe L’oei and the earlier great monumental works by Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt like the statue of Bolívar as Condor in Manizales or the Liberator Christ sculpture in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Barranquilla. There are many more contemporary artists in Colombia breaking new ground. Anyone interested in Contemporary Colombian art should check out the magazine Art Nexus,

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