De Furia y Redención/Of Rage and Redemption

De Furia y Redención: El Arte de Oswaldo Guayasamín
Of Rage and Redemption: The Art of Oswaldo Guayasamín

Schmidt Center Gallery
September 19 - December 6, 2008

This traveling exhibition surveys the work of Ecuadorian painter Oswaldo Guayasamín (1919-1999), one of the most highly regarded Latin American artists of the twentieth century. Though the artist's work has been exhibited widely in Latin America and Europe, this is the first exhibition of his work in the United States in more than half a century. FAU is one of six sites on the exhibition's national tour.

Guayasamín's expressive figurative painting began in a style similar to the renowned Mexican muralists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Siqueiros. His early subject matter reflects his sympathy for the plight of Ecuador's indigenous people, a theme he would continue and expand upon throughout his career. As his work matured his outlook became more international though still focused on the poor and the oppressed. He also showed a preoccupation with Latin America's history of violence and colonialism. The strength of his painting and its international outlook won him many mural commissions in South America and Europe. When he died he was engaged in a huge cycle of murals in an inspirational building he built called the Chapel of Man in Quito, Ecuador.

The Exhibition was organized by the Center for Latin American and Iberian Studies at Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery.

Activity Pages for Teachers

Images: (clockwise from left) Andean Poetry Reading in the Schmidt Center Gallery with faculty member Michael Horswell at podium; two installation views of the Schmidt Center Gallery.

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