Biographie

Cristina Rodriguez was born in Bogota, Colombia in 1964. She lived and worked in London between the years 1989 and 2010 and has been living and working in Geneva, Switzerland since the autumn of 2010. A passionate traveller, she has journeyed extensively in South America, Europe and Africa, finding enrichment and inspiration in the familiar and extraordinary practices and customs she encounters. Although her paintings sometimes contain elements of the abstract and surreal, they are always emphatically figurative. Characteristic of her work are the bold outlines of the figures or objects, the curve and curl of the forms and the simplified areas of solid colour which clarify the whole pictorial concept.

Simplicity and a joyous passion for colour: these are the compositional keynotes of Cristina Rodriguez's art - clearly revealing the lasting impact of a childhood spent in Colombia with its rich heritage of folk art, primitive art, narrative art, story-telling, myth and fable.

Among her many other influences, Cristina Rodriguez cites a love of Early Italian Renaissance art, in particular the quiet and reverential frescos of Fra Angelico, primitive art in all its forms and the great colourists of the twentieth century in particular Chagall, whose floating gravity-defying figures and animals find their counterpart in her own work.

Cristina Rodriguez has retained the child's ability to believe the unbelievable and to see the magical in the mundane. She draws her subjects from the real and the imaginary, fusing fantasy and perception into one.

Her paintings with their animals, dwelling places, radiant landscapes, domestic rituals and everyday objects welcome us inside. At their centre are love and tranquillity.

The peaceful atmosphere she achieves is the tangible expression of her own longing for the ideal in life, and her fervent wish to eschew the ugliness and cruelty of the world. These are not spontaneous creations, but deliberate works of art which have been thought out, dreamed over, reflected on. Their purpose is to give joy and comfort and above all to affirm life. In their simple direct way, they appeal to our emotions, evoking harmonious associations and creating recurrent sensations of serenity and beauty. We are disarmed and our hearts open to the magic of her art.

Gillian Adam, 2007

ESSAYS

Essay by Adelinda Allegretti

Essay by Paola Trevisan

Essay by Luke Elwes

BIOGRAPHY

1964 Bom Colombia
1983-1987 BA in Fine Arts, University of Los Andes, Bogota, Colombia
1989-1991 MA in Fine Arts, The Slade School of Fine Art, London University, UK

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

1987 Pictures at an Exhibition, Fundacion Alzate Avendano, Bogota, Colombia
1991 My Gift to a Continent, Cadogan Gallery, London, UK
1997 The Carnival of the Animals, The Pump House Gallery, London, UK
1999 La Fete sous la Pyramide, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France
2001 Jump into Reality, MacLean Fine Art, The Air Gallery, London, UK
2004 The Desert is not Deserted, The Orangery Gallery, Holland Park, London, UK
2006Imaginary Landscapes, Blenheim Crescent Gallery, London, UK

Group Exhibitions

1987 Los Nuevos Pintores de Bogota, Centro Colombo Americano, Bogota, Colombia
1988 Nuevas Tendencias, Galeria Ventana, Cali, Colombia
1989 30 Anos de Arte Biblioteca, Luis Angel Arango, Bogota, Colombia
1990 Contemporary View, The Royal College of Art and Christie's, London, UK
1991 The Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, London, UK
Under the Eye of Saturn, Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno, Wales, UK
1992 The Ship of Fools, Acom Gallery, Liverpool, UK
1993 Summer Show, Delfina Studios, London, UK
The Affordable Art Company, Connaught Brown, London, UK
Delta Gallery Exhibition, Delta Gallery, Harare, Zimbawbe
1994 The Affordable Art Company, Connaught Brown, London, UK
1997 The Affordable Art Company, Connaught Brown, London, UK
2002 Dangerous Corners: An Exhibition of Football, Gallery 27, London, UK
2006 Two Worlds: Two Different Mediums, Fernand Vanderplancke and Cristina Rodriguez, Kursaal, Oostende, Belgium
2008 Art for Life, Somerset House, London, UK
The Art Movement Art Sale & Auction, Christies, London, UK
2009 Mondi Lontanissimi, Vittorio Vecchi and Cristina Rodriguez, Galleria "evvivanoé esposizioni d'arte", Cherasco, Italy
Westminster Arts Open Exhibition, SW1 Gallery, London, UK
Biennale Internazionale Dell'Arte Contemporanea, Florence Biennale, Fortezza da Basso, Florence, Italy
2010 Little Treaures, Piccoli gioeolli, Mostra d'Arte Internazionale, A cura di Paola Trevisan, Galleria de'Marchi, Bologna, Itlay
Salon Mediterraneen d'Art Contemporain, Aix en Provence, South of France, 3-7th of June 2010, Evvivanoe Art Gallery

"Grand Tour", Grobnik Castle, Rijeka, Croatia, 11th of June-10th of September 2010, Curated by Adelinda Allegretti
(Read essay (in Italian) by Adelinda Allegretti about the exhibition "The Grand Tour" in Croatia)
Butler Goode Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Celestial Spirits, Amsterdam Whitney, New York
Museo Civico do Alatri, Alatri, Italy. Curated by Adelinda Allegretti. 5 November - 1 December
Marziart, Hamburg. 5 November - 1 December
GallerieGora, Montreal, Canada. 1 - 18 December
Broadway Gallery, New York. 1 - 30 December
2011 Artspace Galleries London and Paris Group Exhibition;
Paris. 28 April - 10 May
London. 16 May - 21 May

Art Fairs

2007 London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London, UK
20/21 International Art Fair, Royal College of Art, London, UK
AAF New York, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, USA
Art London, The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London, UK
2008 London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London, UK
AAF New York, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, USA
Art London, The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London, UK
AAF Amsterdam, Amsterdam
2009 20/21 International Art Fair, Royal College of Art, London, UK
Art London, The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London, UK
2010 London Art Fair, Modern, British and Contemporary Art, Lena Boyle Fine Art, London
The Stuttgart-Sindelfingen Art Fair, Adelinda Allegretti, Stuttgart, Germany
Art Sydney, Royal Hall of Industries, Sydney, Australia
2011 The Affordable Art Fair, Milano, Italy
International Fair for Contemporary Art, Innsbruck, Germany
Red Dot Art Fair, New York, USA
artexpo, New York, USA

Awards

1989 Scholarship for Outstanding Artists, Icetex: Government of Colombia
1990 The British Council Scholarship
1992 The Delfina Studios Scholarship, Delfina Studios Trust (one year)
1993 Travel Scholarship to Zimbabwe, Delfina Studios Trust
1995 Travel Scholarship to New York, Delfina Studios Trust

Her work is in private collections in: Austria, Belgium, Colombia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, USA, and Zimbabwe.
Her work is also in the following public collections: Paintings for Hospitals, The British Football Association and The Chelsea & Westminster Hospital.

'Just as bright flowers are planted in the face of loss, so her pictures affirm life in the face of the world's destructive urges'
(Luke Elwes, Imaginary landscapes, 2006)