Cuban artist Tony Rodríguez (Santiago de Cuba, 1980) uses his talent to make us think. His painting is loaded with visual riddles that probe the worries and struggles of human beings. He manages to get complex messages across and to draw us into the most mysterious side of our surroundings. It's no accident that he's known as “the painter of reflection”.
Those reflections start from the depiction of invented worlds that he gives shape to as cities wrapped in spectacular landscapes, as if they were microcosms. He often uses certain material or perishable elements, such as coffee pots, umbrellas, trees, boots or boats, to shelter his cities, which float or rest on spaces that suggest the infinite. These metaphors feed above all on biblical passages, turning to some of their symbols and myths, like the Tower of Babel or the Great Flood, and they include nods to his homeland.
He uses colour to underline the mystery and emotion that soak his canvases. What stands out in his use of it is the antagonism he seems to set up between blue and ochre tones, which reinforces that contrast between the eternal and the fleeting. His artwork comes close to the surrealism of René Magritte, in its conceptual firmness and its relationship with the object. There's also a certain influence of the aesthetics of Bruegel the Elder, in his atmospheres, the panoramic views and the meticulous drawing he works with.
In short, the aim of Tony Rodríguez's painting is to make the viewer think about the order that governs human beings and about their concerns, while also holding up the constant, necessary pursuit of our dreams.
Since 2000, the Cuban artist has been picking up prizes and recognition without a break, all in keeping with the quality of his work. He has also held many group and solo exhibitions in his home country and abroad. His pieces are part of notable collections, such as that of Italian Luciano Benetton and that of the Centro Cultural de Arte Hispánico in Miami, the city where he currently lives.
More information about Tony Rodríguez and his artwork here.
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