Mario Velez

Mario Vélez is an artist inspired by Latin-American nature and aesthetic heritage. His work, which includes painting, drawing as well as sculpture, draws from multiple artistic traditions. Three main areas of interest influence his work: The art of pre-Columbian Latin America, contemporary abstract and expressionist painting and the visual culture of modern-day Colombia. Vélez fuses the primitive with the modern. By combining earthly colours with bright modernist colours, he builds on the paradigm established by early Latin American abstractionists who synthesized elements from indigenous and modernist art to create a new, post-colonial visual lexicon that transcends temporal and cultural barriers. His fusion of multiple artistic traditions reflects his belief in art's ability to transcend national, temporal, and linguistic barriers, a belief shared also by Ministry of Nomads. He recently exhibited at the Gallery Elena Shchukina in collaboration with Ministry of Nomads in 2016.

Submitted by MINISTRY OF NOMADS