Pablo Manrique
Pablo Manrique was born in Bogotá, Colombia on September 28, 1984. His father was a lawyer, his mother an architect. Pablo grew up amongst his mother’s drawings and his grandmother’s paintings – both would inspire him to cultivate his talents.
Born into a family with a passion for horses, Pablo began to practice equestrianism and to participate in competitions at a young age. Always in close contact with horses by day and at times by night, when he would camp in the pasture where they grazed, he formed a special bond with these animals, who brought great peace and serenity into his life.
Thus, the theme of horses recurs in his paintings, and even more in his personal life: after graduating, Pablo moved to California to dedicate himself to equestrianism. With the passing of time, he arrived at a crucial junction, when faced with the career decision: ride horses or paint them. So it was that he let go of the reins and took up the brush.
He went to study at the Guerrero Academy of Art in Bogotá, and soon afterwards in the School of Fine Arts in Havana, Cuba. Upon completing his studies and returning to Colombia, he settled into his atelier in Bogotá and prepared for his first exhibition in Cartagena together with other artists from the Caribbean coast (Dec, 2010).
It was at this time that he met Armando Villegas, his future mentor and, in Pablo’s words, “psychiatrist of art.” At the conclusion of his encounters with mestre Villegas, he decided to move to a mountain outside of Bogotá and to concentrate on his painting while immersed in nature. “The only way to listen to the world within is to silence the world without.”
At the end of this period, through his friend Ekke Bingemer, Pablo received an invitation to work with the painter of sacred art Mario Mendonça in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Pablo moved to Brazil, but, before that, he attended an invitation to create a mural painting in the Franciscan monastery of Frei Galvão in Guaratinguetá, São Paulo, upon completion of which he arrived in Rio de Janeiro, where he continued painting and learning with mestre Mendonça. Together, they often travelled to Tiradentes, Minas Gerais, where they stayed in the Mario Mendonça Art Institute. Enchanted with this historic city’s charm, Pablo decided to establish his atelier in Tiradentes, where he continued to pursue his art from 2014 to 2017.
Later, following the imperial Route of Gold towards the Atlantic ocean, he moved to a mountainous region in the state of São Paulo, nearby another historical town, called Paraty.
These days, Pablo emerged into the Atlantic forest nature, prepares his next solo exhibition to be held in Moscow, 2022.
Exhibitions:
2020 - virtual exhibition "Resilience", 11th Week of Art, Culture and Literature (Curitiba, Brazil);
2020 - virtual exhibition "Resilience", Cervantes Institute (Brasília, Brazil);
2019 - solo exhibition "The Part & the Whole", Superior Court of Justice Museum (Brasília,Brazil);
2018 - solo exhibition "Colors of Silence", Cervantes Institute (Brasília,Brazil);
2017 - group show "Our Lady Aparecida - 300 years", National Shrine of Our Lady Aparecida (Aparecida do Norte, Brazil);
2017 - solo exhibition "Imanência", Eros Miguel Conceição Gallery (Tiradentes, Brazil);
2016 - group show. Carrousel du Louvre (Paris, France);
2016 - group show, gallery Merlino Bottega d'Arte (Florence, Italy);
2016 - group show with Mario Mendonça and Gilberto Martins, atelier and gallery Manrique (Tiradentes,Brazil);
2016 - solo exhibition "Imanência", Embassy of Colombia (Brasília,Brazil);
2016 - group show during DuoJazz Festival, Sant'Ana Museum (Tiradentes, Brazil);
2015 - solo "Ouro e Alma", Cultural Centre - Yves Alves (Tiradentes, Brazil);
2015 - group show "Our Lady in Art", National Shrine of Our Lady Aparecida (Aparecida do Norte, Brazil);
2015 - solo exhibition "GALOPA!", museum "Enrique Grau" (Bogotá , Colombia);
2015 - 13 Salón Nacional de Artistas, gallery "Casa Cuadrada" (Bogotá , Colombia);
2013 - mural in the Frei Galvão Seminary (Guaratinguetá, Brazil);
2010 - group show in MoMA Cartagena:
Pablo’s artworks have already been spread throughout the world in such countries as Russia, the United States of America, Cuba, Uruguay, Brazil (Mário Mendonça Art Institute, Superior Court of Justice, Embassy of Colombia) and his native Colombia (Palace of Justice and more).