boterismo makes me smile
i have wanted to talk about the art of fernando botero for a couple weeks and part of me wanted to wait until i spent a day with my dear pal, juan, who i had not seen in person in at least a year until last week. here we both are in 2015 dressed as wayne and garth from wayne's world.
wanna feel old? a decade ago, i was working out of bocoup's nyc office near canal plastics. we had an awesome wall mural by my then-co-worker, isaac durazo. it was the coolest part of that office, followed closely by my first-generation keurig coffee machine. bocoup is now fully remote, and worker-owned! anyway there was a bar my coworkers and i would frequent on the end of our block, which i think is currently flat earth about to grow a high rise. in the women's room there hung a really awesome nude print. i shared it in the group chat and juan said it was by botero.
i love when restaurants have nude art in their bathrooms, it's so chic. and i love how distinct botero's work is and how he's applied it to figure paintings, scenes, and even sculptures. visitors often ask about the set of coasters juan had gifted to me, each displaying a different painting from botero's work.
wanna feel old again? a decade ago i gave a talk at a conference that juan helped run, jsconf colombia, which brought me to medellín. i got to see the botanical garden, party (responsibly) with people from all over the world, and see some of botero's statues in person. that was my favorite conference ever to be a part of.
one of many of botero's family scene paintings
botero was still alive while i was in colombia, he had only passed away in 2023. he was 91. with how much of his art was widespread around medellín (let alone the rest of the planet) while he was still alive, you can imagine how well known and loved his work was. enough to end up in some tribeca bar bathroom and noticeable by some dingus who happened to be close pals with a colombian who also liked art.
Pope Leo X (after Raphael) (1964) by Fernando Botero
it's genius to have a style where you make every human and animal voluminous in size, so no one can get mad at you for painting the pope like he's got a chicken mcnugget-shaped head. the style is surreal, satirical, and so very charming.
Untitled (1964) by Fernando Botero
your homework this week is to take some time to search and try to see as many botero paintings as possible. i know at least one of them will make you smile!
filtered crop of Mona Lisa (1978) by Fernando Botero
