Omar Rayo in front of his museum in Roldanillo, Colombia

The Colombian painter and sculptor Omar Rayo, whose work was characterized by colorful geometric shapes, died yesterday Monday 7th June 2010 at age 82 after suffering a heart attack in his native town of Roldanillo.

Three years ago, the artist Omar Rayo suffered 30 hours in a coma when a heart attack almost killed him, but the burly artist managed to recover well from that episode .

At that time, he said that after “escaping death” he began to paint “with the whole alphabet”. His work which were traditionally geometric patterns created in black, white and red now also included the other primary colors of yellow and blue in his work. And so, inspired by his family this new art was presented in the Museum of Modern art in Bogota (Mambo) ‘Toys of Mateo’, as a tribute to his grandson. That was his last exhibition in the Colombian capital.

Roldanillo

“I can´t go on. I’m at the end of my strength.” It is the often repeated phrase heard in recent months the artist Omar Rayo, referring to his efforts to maintain and keep open the  Omar Rayo Museum in Roldanillo, to which all his efforts were devoted.

Omar Rayo Museum, Roldanillo

The strength that radiated from this tall man, whose bushy eyebrows and intense gaze was quickly undermined in recent months, burdened by ill health and anxieties for survival of the Rayo Museum, which he called his “silly son” or folly.

The painter and sculptor Colombian, whose work was characterized by geometric shapes died at age 82, at a clinic in Cali, where he was taken after suffering a heart attack in the house where he lived in Roldanillo near Cali in the south west of Colombia. He died en route to hospital.

Alejandro Mendoza, one of the artist´s assistants, said that Rayo was having breakfast when he collapsed. “We called the police and the hospital, where he was revived and sent to Cali (capital of Valle), but upon reaching the town of Palmira his vital signs worsened and he was dead when he entered the clinic” Mendoza said.

In Roldanillo (Valle del Cauca), the birthplace of Omar Rayo, a vigil  will be held tomorrow at the Museum along with his funeral. In town, the Fire Department is sounding its alarm every hour as a sign of mourning. “The people are sad. People came to the doors of the Museum with long faces. The master teacher was a wonderful person,” said Hugo Fernando Lozano, an employee who has worked for 13 years in the Museo Rayo.

Once while being interviewed in 2006, shortly after recovering from his heart attack, Rayo was asked:

How do you want people to remember you?

and answered:  I want to be remembered as a creator, as I am. Perhaps, a bitter person, perhaps, like a nice person, perhaps, as a person of good humor. I do not know how people see me, but the truth is that I love people and I have no grudges against anybody …

Now the cultural legacy of the artist who devoted his life to Roldanillo in the north of Valle del Cauca, is the Rayo Museo. It was his life and grief. Hundreds of his works remain there. Before he died, his main concern was that the museum would continue its mission.

A life in art

Omar Rayo Painting

Rayo was born on January 20, 1928 in Roldanillo. His first work was embodied in the shadow of a dog that was projected in his room using charcoal. That marked the first contact with white and black, colors which then dominated his works. He began in his teens, thanks to a notice announcing a correspondence course in drawing Zaer Academy of Buenos Aires (Argentina).

From 1948, Rayo began presenting his works at exhibitions and he won the National Salon of Artists of Colombia and a special prize at the First Latin American Print Biennial, San Juan Puerto Rico, in 1970.

From 1959 to 1960 he lived in Mexico, thanks to a grant from the Organization of American States (OAS) and then with another grant was in New York City, where he settled until 1976 and where he had an apartment where he lived much of the year.

In 1981 he founded the Omar Rayo Latin American Drawing and Engraving  Museum, which he also led. His work was focused on geometric shapes such as squares, rectangles and lines with colors.

Most of his remaining works are in his museum.

The exhibition is being held at the Pera Museum in Istanbul with the collaboration of the Consulate of Colombia, the Spanish Embassy and Instituto Cervantes in Istanbul and includes a selection of 64 paintings organized thematically in six sections: Still lifes, Versions, Bull fights, Circus, Life in Latin America and the Latin American people.

“Still-life” records especially the work belonging to the period of the ’60s, a time when Botero painting is more than an image that goes beyond the simple composition of fruits or objects arranged on a table and often reveal a world of their own right.

“Versions” highlights one of the elements that best characterizes his painting: His ability to combine Latino culture with that of Europe, through different versions of works by masters such as Giotto, Piero della Francesca, Leonardo, Mantegna, Velázquez and Goya, which were his landmarks paintings after his trip to Italy and Spain in the 50s.

“Bullfighting” is an issue that Botero could never leave out in his work, a fascinating and evocative world that is deeply rooted in the tradition of his people. “I dared to paint the bulls because I was very familiar with the topic. It is impossible to paint if there is no strong relationship between the subject and one’s soul. This relationship is absolutely necessary as it gives you a kind of moral authority. This authority, in my case, sprang from the blood and my own life” Botero once said.

As for the “Circus”, Botero became enamored of this issue in Mexico, where he used to spend the winter months. It was there that he became enthralled by the characters that fill the atmosphere of the circus, colors, movement, and life histories that are part of this show as archaic and time again, which has been immortalized by artists such Picasso, Léger and Chagall, among others.

In his series of works focused on the theme of “Life in Latin America,” Botero insists that “the vitality of the man can not be extinguished even in the worst conditions of poverty in slums, in places where life has no reason apparent. ” There are always towns and ordinary people in these paintings, reflecting a loyalty to his own culture as he vividly recalls his childhood homeland.

And finally, the section of works that relate to “People in Latin America” brings together a group of paintings whose landmarks were the color and sculptures from colonial art, direct and essential language of folk art and in what Concerning the purity of form, pre-Columbian art, for which Botero said: “You can find in my painting a world that I knew in my youth. It´s a kind of nostalgia that has become the focus of my work. I spent fifteen years in New York and lots of time in Europe, but this has not changed anything in my approach to Latin America, the nature and spirit. My connection with my country still exists. ”

Fernando Botero has given a new interpretation to the aesthetics of our time, with the creation and presentation of an original and highly personal work that contains many references to his own culture and his experiences as an artist in his life, but treated with a unique style that challenges the concept of beauty in our century, thanks to the monumental permanent resource, humor, irony and naivete, which combines elements of an admirable mastery of the craft and great talent.

Botero says he owes nothing wrong and has only given work to over 120 artists and artisan of Pietrasanta, Italy over the last 20 odd years. The police on the other hand say that since the sculptures are completed in Italy and then sent overseas to clients and galleries, that there are taxes to be paid and not just by the workers – but by the master himself.

Botero is indignant. He says he owes nothing and has broken no laws and if the Italian government continue to hound him he will leave the town and take the jobs he provides elsewhere!