I have to confess that the artwork created by Bernardo Ríos most definitely enters into the “most favorite” of my art collection and I feel honored that I managed to meet that artist at his Exhibition at the Colombian Congress in 2001. Actually, at the end of the exhibition there was an auction of some of his work to help a charity dedicated to improving the sight of some of Colombia´s poorest and yes, I did buy one of his works – so I am biased, bite me!
Why I Like The Art Of Bernardo Ríos
Ríos´artwork is vivid, has a style similar to Georges Braque, Franz Marc, Lionel Feininger, the Futurists and the even Cubism – but you only have to see it to realize that it is GENUINE LATIN AMERICAN ART and not something that has been imported from somewhere else.
The artist´s subject matter deals with everyday life in Colombia, usually relating to his native Risaralda or occasionally Medellin or Bogota where he has both lived and worked.
Here is an image I picked up from the ´net. It is called “Sowing the Asphalt” and it just shows a typical scene that you would find on most country roads at either seed planting or harvest – a group of workers taking their hard earned crop to market oblivious that they are losing the very investment as it sprays out onto the road!Another image that was featured in the Spanish publication “Arte Libre” shows another typical country theme.
From these two works you can probably make out that the scenes in themselves are pretty simple and everyday, but with the glazes the artist uses he converts them into a more sophisticated development of the original Cubist style first started over 100 years ago.
What I was also able to glean from the artist is that he includes certain movements on the canvas that are created to represent sounds that could exist (or most probably would be heard) were one to actually be in the scene. Surely this is a first in art – to include a third dimension in two dimensional art.
Also, as a small footnote, he also includes in his paintings, usually hidden somewhere in the artwork, an image of an ant. He says that is to remind him to also work hard if he wants to become more successful!
If you would like to see more of Bernardo´s work you can do so at: ArtColombia
Art & Artists From Colombia 