Rodrigo Aguilera
Rodrigo Aguilera, born in Colombia, is an established artist with a wide range of styles but all united in his exploration of realistic abstraction. Seen below are two major variants of this theme: 1) “modern” in that he’s using pixelization and contemporary subjects and 2) “Renaissance” in which he’s creating torn paper collages to recreate Renaissance-era artworks. I’m including other well-made pieces but all are in the same conceptual neighborhood.
It’s refreshing to come across an artist that has explored one (large) theme/concept over the course of decades. For Aguilera, it began with a fascination for Hollywood movies and pop culture figures as he grew up in Bogota, Colombia. He also received weekly publications featuring classical/Renaissance artists and would study them on the school bus. Also forming the basis of his lifelong passion for realistic abstraction, he drew caricatures of classmates. His parents supported his desire to pursue graphic arts after high school which he then followed with the local fine art academy. This led to art school where the basics such as formal anatomy, materials and history filled out his studies.
In 1995, he immigrated to Houston with other family members and explored the Houston art scene. At this time, his career in paper-based advertising was greatly impacted by internet advertising so he left to pursue a fine art career. For those that remember the Hunting Art Prize, he was a finalist twice, and if you remember the magazine titled “Art Gallery”, he was the one behind that. Continuing his deep involvement and support of the Houston art scene, he is now publishing “Aplauso” magazine which features local visual artists.
You can reach him through email (Areliuga777@gmail.com), or Instagram (@RodrigoAguileraArt). More works are shown and available here. His studio is at Silver Street Studios where you can visit him typically on the second Saturday of the month from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. but you should contact him first. Be sure to tell him you saw him here at HALT 713 (where we receive no financial compensation for this!).
All photos provided by the artist, the banner image is by Matt Adams.
“Homage to Inress”, Oil on mylar & collage, 48″ x 36″, $4,000
