Gonzalo Fuenmayor/ Gonzalo Fuenmayor

December 14, 2015

Aya N.I.

Aya received her MA in English Language and Literature in 2012. She likes dancing, traveling, cycling and spending time with her pets.

Gonzalo Fuenmayor is a Colombian artist, known for using bananas as a symbol for cultural relation. He was born in 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia.

Art by Gonzalo Fuenmayor

Gonzalo Fuenmayor received his Bachelor of Fine Art from School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, in 2000, with Major in Fine Art and Minor in Art Education, and his Masters in Fine Art from School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2004, from which he also earned the prestigious Traveling Fellowship. Leticia, Colombian city in the heart of the Amazon was chosen as a destination. Its enticement and excitement is going to be perfect for Fuenmayor to continue to examine the notions of the exotic and collision of cultures.

Art by Gonzalo Fuenmayor

Fuenmayor expresses himself in several ways, he draws, he paints and he is taking photographs. His mastery of charcoal drawing technique extents to the point where it’s almost impossible to differentiate black and white photographs from his work. What has marked Fuenmayor’s carrier are bananas. The idea came from wanting to make himself and his work more exotic, while he was in Boston. Since then, this fruit has found its place in many of his artworks. He maybe is famous for the use of bananas, but what really catches the eye is the conflict between his Latino roots and the Europe heritage he has been exposed to. Fuenmayor excels in portraying the clash of cultures, creating magical realism.

Photography by Gonzalo Fuenmayor

He is represented by Dolby Chadwick Gallery in San Francisco, USA.

Gonzalo Fuenmayor lives and works in Miami.

All images courtesy of the artist.