Surrealism and Symbolism are two terms that broadly characterize Marcelo Suaznabar’s art. But as soon as one examines his paintings, one would recognize a central observation; Marcelo’s art is deep rooted into his culture, his work insinuates a complementary spiritual relationships between opposing concepts; life and death, male and female forces, time and stillness, contemporary and old or archaic.
The laws of nature are twisted as he tells his tales. He probes into concepts where human is embodied in animal and animal embodied in human; he raises questions of who controls who or what? His allegories are zoomorphic “par excellence”.
“Dualism” is a distinguishing mark in his work as he enriches his subjects and scenes with repeated patterns; doubled elements and features. Marcelo’s strong color pallet infuses his work with the duality of heightened emotions and stability.
Hania Zawaneh
Artistic Director
Karim Gallery
Marcelo Suaznabar is a self-taught Bolivian contemporary artist who was influenced by his uncle Enrique Suaznabar, a professional photographer; Marcelo has been living and working Canada since 2001. He is the youngest of six children and is the son of Nestor Suaznabar, an agronomist, and Ana Maria Solari who influenced his appreciation of music.
Marcelo was born in the mining city of Oruro in 1970. From an early age, he was influenced by his uncle Enrique Suaznabar, a professional photographer. Marcelo had a passion for drawing which was the main outlet for his creations. Marcelo often accompanied his father’s visits to farms; this is why his early drawings concentrated on animals, insects and plants. From the onset, he showed a great interest in color and form and began exploring watercolors, pastels, and colored pencils. For a long time, he focused on painting insects, animals, houses and portraits on paper and cardboards. Marcelo developed a great amount of his work in his birthplace. Oruro possesses a mystical energy in its surroundings and has a strong folkloric tradition; its carnival was declared by UNESCO as Oral and Intangible Patrimony of Humanity. The cultural richness of the city's manifestations contributes to creators, granting the artist enough incentive to cultivate his work.
His works were first publicly shown in 1988, at the age of 18, when he was invited to participate in a collective exhibit at the French Alliance and the Cultural House (Centro Cultural) showing his “Coronation of the Virgin” series;
Marcelo’s participations in solo and group exhibitions gained him recognition internationally and at home. His work was exhibited in several solo exhibitions at galleries and canters in main
cities New York, Washington DC., Miami, Paris, Osaka, Barcelona, Hamburg, Sydney, Santiago, Guadalajara, Asuncion, and Tola. His work was also exhibited in Museums at his home country; the National Museum of Art. La Paz - Bolivia.
Casa de la Libertad Museum. Sucre, Casa de la Cultura. Simón I. Patiño Museum. Oruro, Casa Nacional de Moneda Museum. Potosi, National Museum of Art. La Paz
And in other cities like the National Museum of Modern Art. Guatemala City, the Museum of Art Ex Convento del Carmen. Guadalajara, the Museum of Art of Leon. Leon – Mexico, the Metropolitan Museum of Monterrey – Mexico, the Hollfeld Museum. Hollfeld – Germany, the National Museum of Art. Santiago – Chile, Sofia Imber Museum. Caracas - Venezuela.
Museum of Latin American Art. Long Beach. California – USA and the National museum of Art, Lima – Peru.
Marcelo also participated in several art fairs in New York, Miami, San Diego, London, Basel, Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto, Porto Alegre and Busan
He has won several local and international awards and Distinctions: The Honorific mention. Rozas-Botrán Foundation. Guatemala City - Guatemala. The Distinction of Concejo Departamental de Culturas de Oruro. Oruro – Bolivia, the Distinction Bolivian Artists Association ABAP Bolivia. Oruro – Bolivia, the Distinction Institute Superior de Bellas Artes.Oruro – Bolivia, the Distinction Mesa Redonda Panamericana Oruro. Oruro - Bolivia. The Condecoration: Procer Pedro Domingo Murillo on the grade of Civic Honors given by Council of City Hall. La Paz - Bolivia. The Distinction given by Mesa Redonda Pan-American. Oruro - Bolivia.
He was awarded the First Medal Artist given by DIDEJU. Oruro – Bolivia. The 2nd Price Queen Competition, The Artist Project Toronto. Toronto - Canada. And the 3rd Priz Lemon Competition, The Artist Project Toronto. Toronto - Canada.
The special mention given by the National Museum of Art in the International contest SIART 99. La Paz – Bolivia, the best in Drawing Art FOCUS, Toronto Metro Hall, Toronto - Canada.
His work is found in several public collections; National Museum of Art La Paz - Bolivia
Center of Contemporary Art. Baie Saint Paul. Quebec – Canada, Ralli Contemporary Museum of Art. Punta del Este – Uruguay, Ralli Contemporary Museum of Art. Santiago – Chile, Museum UNIS Rozas - Botrán Contemporáneo MURB.Guatemala City – Guatemala, Arte Al Limite AAL Foundation. Santiago – Chile, Sayego & Pardon Collection. Miami - USA.
And private collections in Bolivia, Canada, Chile, United States, Spain, France, Poland, Argentine, Germany, South Korea, Panama, China, Brazil, Colombia, Turkey, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela.