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Marcelo Suaznabar

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Biography

 

At age 16 Marcelo began exhibiting his work as part of group shows. This he accomplished without formal art training. Driven by a passion for drawing and the encouragement of his uncle, at an early age he explored his interest in colour through the use of watercolours, pastels and coloured pencil.  Later he completed a course in art at the Catholic University in Santiago.

His early works were heavily focused on religious themes, influenced by colonial baroque artists such as Bolivian Master of Calamarca, Peruvian Holguin and Italian Bitti among others. This first phase in his career lasted more than five years. Then, he discovered the force and the language of colour. Later his influence came mainly from Brueguel, Bosch, Carrington, Dali, Kahlo and Borda to name a few. This led to a second phase which he calls the "apocalypse" phase and subsequently the "altiplano magico" phase.

 

For the past ten years Marcelo has been engaged in the exploration of a more subtle symbolic language. The repetition of the Bolivian altiplano landscape is evident in his work. This is the landscape of his childhood and the memory of the scenery haunts him – it is magical with great power and energy.

The images in Marcelo’s paintings are at the same time whimsical, complex, absurd and surreal. These images appear to him at moments throughout the day and he is compelled to record them as sketches in order not to lose the phantasm.

“I try to seek answers and then to contemplate them. I need to express something… thoughts, ideas, visions, and to express visually with the language of colour.  In my figures there is symbolism of life, nature, the environment, progress, time, death, the universe and the confusion of the human mind.” Marcelo explains.

He does not deny that the unique qualities of Latin American art are evident in his work. He sees the surrealistic narrative that defines his large format pieces especially as a continuation of something that is latently present in all aspects of life in his culture.

Prior to moving to Canada in 2001 he had already achieved significant success as a young artist with many group and solo exhibits in Bolivia and other parts of South America. In North America he is developing a following. His talent is recognized and appreciated. Outside of Canada and the United States, his work has reached the hands of collectors across Europe and Latin America including Spain, France, Germany, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela. His work can also be found in public collections and museums in Bolivia, Uruguay and Canada. Since 2008 he had three exhibits in public museums in Mexico - the Metropolitan Museum of Monterrey, Museum of Art Ex Convento del Carmen, Gudalajara and the Leon Museum of Art.

Marcelo and his wife Milenka and daughter Valeria live on the outskirts of Toronto. The quiet town of Aurora is a long way from Oruro, Bolivia where he was born but it provides the space for over 400 square foot studio where he sometimes paints 10 hours per day. Jazz fusion, contemporary jazz, new age, classical and world music form the background inspiration while he paints.

 

Artist Statement

In my work I introduce symbolic elements in an allegorical way. In this fashion, I interpret the temptations and passions of the soul in dreams. My concern is with ecological problems produced by man in his constant fight of ambition and obsession for power.

Of interest to me as well, are collective and solitary environments, in which I recreate the Bolivian High Plateau using universal symbols. On several occasion, I inlay subtle figures in abstract backgrounds. These figures appear suspended in a direct and simple manner inviting interpretations of surreal and magical situations. My inspiration comes from nature, and the common attitudes of the human race, or culture.

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