THE METAPHYSICAL PAINTING OF COLOMBIAN PABLO MANRIQUE
Pablo Manrique, a mix of Bogotan and Caribbean, has managed to draw the attention of critics in major international art exhibitions. His paintings attest that this Colombian artist is creating a new dimension within the South American fantastic painting, revitalizing the surrealist proposal that had several important exponents in Latin America.
Manrique has a long history of artistic training initiated at the Guerrero Academy of Arts in Bogotá and San Alejandro in Havana, Cuba. He was a student of two renowned Masters: the unforgettable Armando Villegas and the Brazilian Mario Mendonça.
His works cross borders and go to exhibitions in renowned museums and galleries in Italy, France and Brazil. Due to the repercussion of his works, he was invited to represent his country by the former Colombian ambassador to Brazil, Alejandro Borda, who refers to Pablo as "a young Colombian artist who demonstrates a deep and rigorous mastery of his discipline."
He currently lives in Brazil, where he develops his new artistic phase and delves into "magical realism", one of the aspects of surrealist art, where he constantly improves his metaphysical style. Nature, oceans and figures, in acrylic on canvas, refer to a world full of spirituality captured with exquisite technique by Pablo Manrique.
According to Brazilian critic Walter Cezar Addeo, a member of the APCA (São Paulo Association of Art Critics), Pablo's works "are not simply landscapes. There is a metaphysical intention in these new canvases. There is a resumption of the orphism in these paintings. A unitary conception of universe from a primordial energy that gives birth to everything and allows the forms to transform into each other, resulting in an almost abstract figurativism ".
His passion for horses was one of the reasons why he became interested in art. The power, the strength, the nobility and, above all, the beauty of these animals encouraged Pablo to draw them on his canvases. For Manrique, extracting his own feelings and inner beauty is what leads him to create unique pieces that often remind us of what we could rightly call a romantic neo-symbolism. This reveals the genesis of his painting: "what I learn in life teaches me to paint and what I learn in painting teaches me to live".
Today this very authentic artist has managed to draw the attention of famous personalities from Colombia and Brazil. Singers, writers, critics and ambassadors are followers of this talented Colombian who assures us that art is a way to find God. And he says even more: “the more love grows, the more beauty in the world grows. If God is love, beauty is another name for God. ”
The Court of Justice in Brasilia selected part of its new collection and in August will exhibit unpublished paintings in the exhibition entitled “A PART AND THE WHOLE”. Previously, the Instituto Cervantes, in this same city, hosted its exhibition “COLORS OF THE SILENCE”. Following this Brasilia exhibition, Pablo Manrique is already preparing other major exhibitions in international markets such as Russia, Spain and Mexico. The trajectory of this artist currently goes far beyond Colombia, a country where he always returns after his successes abroad, in search of his origins and where are the primary sources of his art.
Walter Cezar Addeo of APCA - São Paulo Association of Art Critics