MESSENGER OF SILENCE
Jerome Valbuena’s photographs, drawings, paintings and sculptures leave a message that echoes in the soul of any observer. And it is because they rescue the native Latin American culture, values and roots with ancient, mystical, magical and sacred images.
His works depict a present that mixes creativity and
originality with the urban, the contemporary, the day-to-day, and what’s poetic
of the streets of the big cities like New York. The undertone: critical and
eco-friendly. This unique artist invites us to think outside the box with his
sculptures The Kamis; messengers of
silence. These consist of trees with oxygen masks made out of recycled paper
showing their pain and asking to be spared from the death in the jungle of
cement.
I met Jerome in an event in New York. Personally, I
was impressed when he told me that during the time that he studied Plastic Arts
in Bogota’s Universidad Nacional, he also
taught art classes to street children, those that were under the care of a
government institution. He developed a technique for them to create artifacts
that they could sell thus generating some income. It was such a great
experience that they implemented it in a marginal neighborhood where he gave ceramic
classes to more than 300 children and a group of artisans. My admiration for
his work led me to inquire on the history of this extraordinary man, inherent
of a great sensibility to any manifestation of life.
Jerome inherited the love for art and teaching from
his father; a professor who in his free afternoons painted landscapes and gave
him a canvas encouraging him to paint. They were always accompanied by his
mother, a woman full of love, gentleness and joy. From them, he developed an appreciation
for the arts and culture, strong foundations that have placed him in the
highest echelons as an artist.
His works have been displayed in salient countries of
the world like, Colombia, Hungary,
Greece, Rumania, France, and Poland and in cities like Miami and New York in the
United States, totaling 46 exhibits.
It was New York, the city where
he lived for several years and to which he dedicated his most recent work: The Invisible Cities, taking as
inspiration the art of the streets, mixing the real of the everyday with his
sensibility, his way of looking at the world, his utopia, his creativity and
his inspiration.
This great painter and sculptor is a man of great
discernment who has sat at the table with Colombia’s president, with
multi-millionaires and artists around the world. Similarly, he enjoys
discovering our roots when sharing his time with humble farmers from remote
areas of the city.
“Art requires sensibility, creativity, strength and
tenacity. Even If you are not recognized, you should continue to create.
Sometimes the price is solitude; I had to leave my family for my studies and
work. It is difficult to maintain a social life when so many hours and days are
spent in a studio. Besides, there isn’t any kind of financial support for
artists. My goal is to live from art and for art,” says Jerome. His great life
lesson: Persevere. Don’t allow yourself to quit or undermine your own will.
In the United States he fulfilled his dream: to
exhibit in Miami and New York. And now, as a teacher of the arts, he motivates
and supports his students since there are families that discourage artists for
fear of not being able to live from art.
Valbuena currently lives in Bogotá and is a professor
of Fine Arts at the university he attended.
By Nora Elena Vinasco
Executive Managing Director / Mireya Posada
Editor in Chief / Cesar Florez
LATINO SHOW MAGAZINE
www.thelatinoshowny.com
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