NASSAU COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART TO PRESENT WORKS BY BOTERO

NASSAU COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART, ROSLYN, NY, WILL PRESENT A MAJOR EXHIBITION THAT SHOWCASES THE WORK BY ONE OF THE MOST HONOURED LATIN AMERICAN ARTISTS WORKING TODAY. FERNANDO BOTERO INCLUDES A RANGE OF PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS AND MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE THAT EXEMPLIFY BOTERO'S MOST FAMILIAR THEMES: COMMONPLACE SCENES OF EVERYDAY LIFE, LIFE IN THE BEDROOM, LIFE OF THE STREETS AND PEOPLE RAPT IN THE EXCITEMENT OF MUSIC OR FAMILY ACTIVITIES. THROUGHOUT, BOTERO'S CHARACTERS ARE SEEN IN THEIR 'BOTERO-ESQUE' GIRTH AND GRANDEUR. WORKS BY THIS FAMED ARTIST WERE PREVIOUSLY SEEN AT THE MUSEUM IN A MAJOR 2005 EXHIBITION. FERNANDO BOTERO OPENS AT NCMA ON 31.MARCH AND RUNS THROUGH TO 24.MAY.
A NATIVE OF COLOMBIA, BOTERO HAS RESIDED IN NEW YORK, PARIS AND TUSCANY. IN THE 1960s, HE BEGAN TO ACHIEVE ACCLAIM FOR HIS SATIRICAL PAINTINGS OF OVER SIZED, FLESH FIGURES WITH LARGE LIMBS AND SMALL BODIES. IN 1971 HE BEGAN MAKING SCULPTURES AS WELL, AN EXAMPLE OF WHICH IS 'MAN ON HORSEBACK', A SELF ASSURED GENTLEMAN IN A SUIT AND A BOWLER HAT, HIS LEGS AS LARGE AS THOSE OF THE HORSE. THE WORK GREETS VISITORS ALONG A WOODEN PATH LEADING TO THE MUSEUM AND IS A PERMANENT PART OF NCMA'S SCULPTURE PARK. BOTERO'S SMOOTH ROUNDED DEPICTIONS OF PEOPLE AND ANIMALS EXHIBIT A COMIC DISREGARD FOR CORRECT PROPORTIONS. THIS SKEWING OF FORM IS CENTRAL TO WORKS BY BOTERO. HE HAS SAID: 'IN ART, AS LONG AS YOU HAVE IDEAS AND THINK, YOU ARE BOUND TO DEFORM NATURE. ART IS DEFORMATION.' BOTERO IS ONE OF THE MOST WELL-KNOWN AND RESPECTED OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY STILL-LIFE PAINTERS. HIS REPRESENTATIONS OF FRUITS, FLOWERS, VEGETABLES, SWEETS, MEATS AND CHEESES EMBODY MANY OF THE CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE OBSERVED IN HIS OTHER SUBJECTS. THEY DISPLAY A MARKED ENGAGEMENT WITH SENSUALITY. THERE IS A SENSE OF THE SACRAMENTAL OR THE RITUAL IN MANY OF THE PAINTINGS. A NUMBER OF BOTERO'S STILL LIFES HAVE PARTICULAR RESONANCE WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF COLOMBIA, OFTEN DISPLAYING DISTINCTIVELY COLOMBIAN MEALS, BIRTHDAY TABLES OR REFERENCES TO OTHER OCCASIONS CELEBRATED IN THAT COUNTRY.