Fernando Botero
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"I think Botero's work is terrible. I think his work is the Pillsbury Doughboy."--Rosalind E. Krauss cited in the 1998 Don Millar documentary on Botero "... I will examine art critics Rosalind Krauss's and Arthur Danto's remarks on the work of Colombian artist Fernando Botero, and especially Danto's (2006) review of the series of paintings and drawings with which Botero reacted, from 2004 ..."--The Cultural Promise of the Aesthetic (2014) by Monique Roelofs "Colombian artist Fernando Botero is famous for his depictions of blimpy figures that verge on the ludicrous. New Yorkers may recall the outdoor display of Botero’s bronze figures, many of them nude, in the central islands of Park Avenue in 1993. Their bodily proportions insured that their nakedness aroused little in the way of public indignation. They were about as sexy as the Macy’s balloons, and their seemingly inflated blandness lent them the cheerful and benign look one associates with upscale folk art. The sculptures were a shade less ingratiating, a shade more dangerous than one of Walt Disney’s creations, but in no way serious enough to call for critical scrutiny. Though transparently modern, Botero’s style is admired mainly by those outside the art world. Inside the art world, critic Rosalind Krauss spoke for many of us when she dismissed Botero as “pathetic.”"--"The Body in Pain" by Arthur Danto |
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Fernando Botero (1932 – 2023) was a Colombian painter known for his figurative paintings during a time ruled by abstract art. He often painted and sculpted overweight people.
"The Body in Pain" by Arthur Danto at The Nation about Botero's Abu Ghraib series, discusses what Danto refers to as "disturbatory art".
Style and themes
He paints and draws in a style somewhat similar to Pablo Picasso "Deux femmes courant sur la plage" (The Course). He strives in all his work to capture an essential part of himself and his subjects through color and form. His work includes still-life and landscapes, but Botero tends to primarily focus on situational portraiture. His paintings and sculptures are, on first examination, noted for their exaggerated proportions and the corpulence of the human figures and animal figures. The "fat people" are often thought by critics to satirize the subjects and situations that Botero chooses to paint. Botero explains his use of obese figures and forms as such: "An artist is attracted to certain kinds of form without knowing why. You adopt a position intuitively; only later do you attempt to rationalize or even justify it." He is an abstract artist in the most fundamental sense of the word, choosing what colors, shapes, and proportions to use based on intuitive aesthetic thinking. This being said, his works are informed by a Colombian upbringing and social commentary is woven throughout his work.
Abu Ghraib paintings
In early 2005, Botero revealed a series of 50 paintings that graphically represent the controversial Abu Ghraib incident, expressing the rage and shock that the incident provoked in the artist. Botero has stated that he does not plan to sell the paintings, but instead intends to donate them to museums as a reminder of the events depicted within.
Linking in at time of death
Abu Ghraib (disambiguation), Adam (Botero), Adela Micha, Alejandro Obregón, Ana Maria de Martinez, Anna Walinska, April 19, Art Plural Gallery, Azalea Quiñones, Barbara McGivern, Barranquilla, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berrío Park station, Berrío Park, Big Beautiful Woman, Big Sleeping, Bijan (designer), Bill Shipsey, Birmingham Museum of Art, Bogotá Museum of Modern Art, Botero Plaza, Botero, Bowers Museum, Cafesjian Museum of Art, California Lutheran University, Calle de Génova, Cartagena, Colombia, Casa de Nariño, Celso Zubire, Chapultepec, Chryssa, Colombia, Colombian art, Colombian National Museum, Cultural references to Pierrot, Dafen Village, David Brillembourg, David Gerstein (Israeli artist), DEmo (artist), Documenta 6, Ekebergparken Sculpture Park, El Raval, Elena Cué, Empire Towers, Encore Las Vegas, Enrique Grau, Fabio Ochoa Restrepo, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Fat feminism, Federal Reserve Bank Building (Seattle), Four Seasons Hotel Miami, Francisco Luque, Galería Casas Riegner, Gary Nader, George Economou (shipbuilder), Georgy Shishkin, Gerard Cafesjian, Heinz Günter Mebusch, History of art, History of the nude in art, International Best Dressed Hall of Fame List, International Sculpture Center, Jacob Elbaz, Jean-Paul Réti, Jesse A. Fernández, John Baxter (author), Jonathan Novak, Josef Levi, Kistefos Museum and Sculpture Park, La Candelaria, Bogotá, La paloma de la paz, Latin America, Latin American art, Leo Matiz, Lowe Art Museum, Lucky Frog, Madrid, Marcel Paquet, Marta Traba, Mayoral Gallery, Medellín, Miguel Urrutia Art Museum, Milagros Maldonado, Modern art, Modern sculpture, Mona Lisa replicas and reinterpretations, Museo Botero, Museo de Arte del Tolima, Museum of Antioquia, Museum of Art - DeLand, Naked Pueblo, National security of Colombia, National University of Colombia, Nueva Figuración, Oakland University, Olympic Museum, Olympic Order, Outline of sculpture, Pablo Escobar, Paisa (region), Palmer Museum of Art, Parque Thays, Paseo de Recoletos, Pastel, Pera Museum, Pierrot lunaire (book), Pietrasanta, Plaza de la Escandalera, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Ricardo Brennand Institute, Rosenbaum Contemporary, Salon of Colombian Artists, Scheringa Museum of Realist Art, Sculpture, Silvia Lemus, Sofía Ímber, Sophia Vari, South America, Tamanyan Street, The Hand (Botero), Timeline of art, Timeline of Colombian history, Ulrich Museum, UOB Plaza, Venezuelan art, Wojciech Fangor, Woman with Mirror, World Erotic Art Museum, Yerevan Cascade
