Like Astor Piazzolla’s music or Mario Vargas Llosa’s literature, the art of Fernando Botero (*1932 in Medellín) has shaped our image of the Latin American world. From the early works from the late fifties to his current work, the Columbian painter and sculptor charges his genre scenes, portraits, nudes, and still lifes with ambiguous allusions to the culture of his homeland. Scenes that at first seem cheerful and harmless, upon closer inspection actually provide profound insight into the history of (post)colonialism. Grotesquely expansive bodies not only intensify the sensory presence of his figures, they are critical references to decadent hegemonic structures in South America. Moreover, Botero’s oeuvre accomplishes this within the context of a modernist European art tradition. For the first time, his work, with its seminal formal vocabulary and astonishing topicality, is being honored in Austria in an extensive retrospective and publication.
 
Exhibition schedule: Bank Austria Kunstforum, Vienna, October 12, 2011–January 15, 2012