Dislocated vertical 2020 – Rafael BARRIOS

Born in Louisiana, USA, in 1947, Rafael Barrios studied fine arts in Canada, the USA, and Venezuela. His artistic career began at a very young age, when he took drawing and painting classes at the Museo de Bellas Artes in Caracas, Venezuela, where he received his first recognition with the “National Youth Painting” award in 1963. After completing his early studies in Venezuela and Canada, he received a scholarship from J. Walter Thompson International to attend the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, Canada, where he graduated with honors in Fine Arts and Communication and Design. He also received a scholarship from New York University to pursue graduate studies in Fine Arts and Monumental Sculpture Techniques. He has received several national and international awards: The Sculpture Award, Ernesto Avellán Exhibition; the McLean Foundation Scholarship, the highest award offered by the Ontario College of Art, Canada; the “Excelentísima Diputado Pronvicial de la Frontera” decoration for his monumental sculpture entitled “Tercer Horizonte,” commemorating the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, in Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, Spain; Second prize at the Visual Arts Biennial of the Sofia Imber Contemporary Museum in Caracas, Venezuela; Conferry Prize, First Sculpture Biennial, Francisco Narváez Museum of Contemporary Art, Margarita Island, Venezuela; Artist of the Year 1995, Etiqueta magazine, Caracas, Venezuela; decoration from the canton of Carupano, State of Sucre, Venezuela.

Throughout his career as an artist, Rafael Barrios has worked as artistic director for UNESCO; as creative consultant for Latin Touch film productions; and as set designer for Chris Von Wangenheim in Vogue and Esquire magazines in New York, USA. He has been a professor of three-dimensional art and advertising at the Neumann Design Foundation in Caracas, Venezuela; set designer for the presentation of “DanzaHoy” at Expo-Seville in Spain; and set designer for Hervé Leger in his show “Carrouselle du Louvre” in Paris. Many of his works can be found in public spaces, such as the murals at the Polar Foundation in Caracas; Art and Industry, New York; the Coca-Cola International headquarters in New York; the monumental sculptures at the Sofia Imber Museum of Contemporary Art in Caracas; the headquarters of Banco Consolidado (now CorpBanca) in Caracas; the Seguros Venezuela building in Caracas; and the headquarters of Procter & Gamble in Caracas. Rafael Barrios has exhibited in the United States, Europe, South America, and other Latin American countries, as well as in the Middle East. His works are part of the permanent collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Carmen Lammana Foundation in Toronto, Canada; the National Art Gallery in Caracas; the Sofia Imber Museum of Contemporary Art in Caracas; and the private collections of HRH Juan Carlos de Borbón, King of Spain (Simétrie en lévitation) and HRH Gloria, Princess of Germany.

In 1973, the famous futurist Marshall McLuhan said during a lecture at the University of Toronto: “The work of Rafael Barrios is like fresh fruit for the mind.” Rafael Barrios plays with forms, altering the laws of geometry and creating volume in space. His sculptures are characterized by a break with orthodox directionality, opening up new possibilities for perception.

The dizzying elevations make his virtual works seem to stand on their own, defying the laws of space and lightening bodies that should be subject to gravity. Rafael Barrios’ works are identifiable by a combination of dynamics, lightness, strength, and magnetism, which are imprinted in each individual creation in order to reach the viewer’s mind.