Artists

With a number of successful global exhibitions under his belt, Walter Zuluaga is a force to be reckoned with in the world of Latin America’s Magic Realism. Born in Pereira, Columbia, he mastered his artistic technique at the city’s Academy of Fine Arts. He continued his art studies in Spain and cemented his growing fame with exhibitions in Madrid and Bilbao. His work is highly sought after by private collectors.

Over the years, Zuluaga’s art has evolved through a progressively unreal experience into modern realist paintings that display elements of fantasy or dream-like subject matter. Technically, this Magic Realism movement lies between Surrealism and Photorealism, with its subject often rendered with photographic naturalism.

Julio Parra is a contemporary Colombian artist based in Medellín. His vibrant and rebellious style has resulted in him being coined the “Colombian Basquiat”. Parra’s effervescent scribbles and brushstrokes splashed against a lightly hued, often stark white backdrop creates a bold form of primitivism, showing a strong communicative message with elements of coded content within the work.

His paintings provide a lens through which to view capitalism, urban beauty and decay, and the social and economic inequality and exploitation in Latin American society. Parra’s work often depicts mundane items and consumer products working together in juxtaposition to socio-economically charged effigies. 

José Cacho, born in Mexico City, is an exceptionally talented artist, whose works are timelessly classic yet meticulously crafted with a contemporary allure. Cacho applies a wide variety of materials, such as acrylic, acrylic medium, inks, pigments, charcoal, pastels, graphite, gold, silver and bronze foil, stencils, paper and oxide powder. All of these materials are layered upon different substrates such as canvas, wood panel, acrylic sheets, mirror, metal and paper.

His work is about the enquiry of humanity from the cosmogony of the female form, bearer of life and mystery. His female form is recognised as a source of knowledge and harmony perpetuating wisdom and balance. Each piece has a strong story, a collage of symbols and meanings. The mosaic patterns, inspired by Klimt’s technique, represent the integration of human mind: thoughts and emotions, which in turn creates our reality. 

Diego Romero is a designer and artist who studied at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Xochimilco. While in school, he acquired a special taste for the graphic arts. A gifted, self taught artist, Romero has researched and reinvented the technique of quilling and paper art, with a special, uniquely personal touch.

To create his art, he uses strips of paper (one centimetre high) with colours that highlight the work in a unique and stimulating way. His pieces are centred around figurative images. He embraces his Mexican heritage by representing the beautiful forms, colours, traditions and characters so prominent in Mexican culture. 

A post-modern pop artist and muralist, Andrés was born in Mexico City to a family of successful artists. His unmistakably bold and dynamic style has led to him being one of the leading contemporary pop artists within the Mexican art scene. He successfully collaborated with a variety of brands, such as Hublot, White Tiger, Black Jaguar foundation, 500 startups, Tokidoki, L’Occitane, W Hotel, Animal Karma, Clip Mexico and West Elm.

His instantly recognisable style and vibrant colour palette has enabled him to create daringly unique paintings for collectors who are intrigued by Andrés iconic images. His works portrays the world of advertising, entertainment and politics; reflecting a society obsessed with consumerism and the desire it generates, leading to the question, does television imitate reality or vice versa? 

Rafael Antonio Fonseca Acevedo, born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1988, is an exceptional hyper-realist artist. At an early age he showed an interest in drawing, where he explored various techniques and materials, especially graphite. After finishing his training as an architect, he decided to dedicate himself fully to acrylic and the art of airbrush painting, fascinated by the precision and detail in the images.

He is a self-taught airbrush artist, developing his own technique which involves the human portrait, nature as an essential factor in life and its deterioration through human history, with a touch of Magical Realism and critical perspective. He does not believe in just capturing a snapshot in time but taking the viewer into a visual journey that stirs the senses and leaves a dramatic impression. 

Hailing from Mexico, Esther Vincent is renowned for art that is enchanting, powerful and rich in spirituality. She’s lauded for her contemporary take on the modern cubist style, creating a striking yet sophisticated series of paintings that radiate serenity and a sense of raw beauty.

She Interweaves the richness of Mexican culture with the symbolic iconography of equestrian motives. Her graceful pastel palette combined with bold brush strokes has resulted in an interlocking collage rich in depth and beauty. Her contemporary twist of cubism and primitive techniques creates a rich tapestry of mythical motives of angular horses showing a strong sense of effervescence. 

Braxton Fuller is a self-taught contemporary artist from Kansas City. He views the world as his canvas and takes inspiration from all aspects of life. Fuller started his career as a gifted writer. Storytelling is a part of humanity and a tool Fuller decided to explore by mixing and applying paint to a canvas.

Using a unique colour palette and a distinct dictionary of spiritual cursive symbols, he connects the viewers to his life lessons and experiences, providing a window to his subconscious. He uses the canvas as a way to connect with others. We all experience joy, pain, loss, sacrifices, love, tragedy, stress, etc. His art is designed to hit different emotions depending on what the viewer is going through in their life at that particular moment. 

Alvaro Daza is a true pioneer in the Colombian art world. With over 100 global exhibitions, his bold abstract expressionist style is unmistakable. His works are dynamic explosions of colour, which mysteriously appear from magical landscapes. These explosions represent the beautiful formation of trees, which in turn represent life, freedom and longevity. Under the striking thick brushstrokes lies a strong message that we must take special care of our forests: the trees that give us life.

His work draws inspiration of something in-between reality and a surreal paradise: a true reflection of Colombia’s Magical Realism. Daza’s combination of linear shapes and curved brushstrokes does not create conflict or dichotomy, rather it unites both in peace and coherence. He brings light to the world. 

Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Reyes Ocre is an abstract expressionist with the unique vibrancy and passion of the Caribbean Peninsula. Ocre’s works are created around the desire to appreciate the exquisite lines, shapes, colours, spaces and textures that vitalise the pictorial surfaces.

His technique surpasses those of regular abstractionists, by developing a thought provoking analogue of a personal pictorial through which he addresses the complex and controversial issues of the future of humanity: such as global warming, ecological devastation, the exploitation of the planets natural resources and species. 

Enrique Pichardo,  born in Mexico City, displayed a strong interest in the visual arts and a keen eye for detail from a very early age. He spent his formative years developing and honing his artistic skills before enrolling at the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Esculura y Grabado, “La Esmerelda” (National School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving “La Esmeralda”) In Mexico City.

Pichardo’s artworks are primarily figurative, in a liner form, often whimsical or with a child-like innocence. His vibrant colour tones, striking plains of block colour, pictorial signs, biomorphic forms and geometric shapes demonstrate inspiration from the great Modern European artists Juan Miro and Pablo Picasso.

Marta Isabel Ramírez is an industrial designer and fine arts artist from Colombia. She considers herself a “glass thinker”, because her work is a hybrid between art, storytelling and design. By using a lamp-working technique, she allows the material to run freely, without any restrictions on the natural fluidity of the glass.

For Marta, glass in its primitive, organic and dynamic form, is an eloquent medium for self-expression. She also recreates the static moments of the moving water, allowing them to achieve their own nature. The result is a series of dancing shapes, suspended or resting, writing in the air or casting shadows on the ground.