Wk 11 — Artist OTW — Student Choice
Fernando Botero is a Colombian artist and sculptor whose painting style is very unique. He originally attended matador school to become an artist. His first paintings were exhibited in 1948 when he was 16 years old. Much of his inspiration came from Spanish colonial art and political murals of Mexican artist Diego Rivera. He was also inspired by Francisco de Goya and Diego Velazquez.
Upon seeing his work many will easily recognize who the artist is. His art is very fascinating. He paints figures that are corpulent. Much of the colors are bright and the images that are painted are some of very known figures. Depending on what he is painting, the colors can be either vibrant or more subtle. The paintings are smooth and have a good amount of detail to make it look somewhat realistic yet animated.
The paintings he created were different. They are easily recognizable. Most of his recent works focused on political messages. In 2004, Botero released a series of drawings and paintings that focused on the violence that was happening in Colombia because of the drug cartels. Later in 2005, he debuted his “Abu Ghirab” series, which highlighted the accounts of American military forces abusing prisoners during the Iraq War in the Abu Ghirab prison. He wanted to highlight these important moments as well as show that his work can be successful even though his paintings did not follow a traditional style.
Seeing paintings that changes the body shape of what a normal body would look like is interesting. Throughout much of art many bodies were portrayed as what the ideal standard was, which often times was lean and fit. This can be seen in many sculptors. However when looking at Botero’s work it is fascinating to be able to view images such as that. I also think it is important to note that we should also bring attention to the political events he paints about. As an artist who wants to speak out about something it is good to learn what their works mean to them and why they choose to support of speak out against something.
