Angelus Natura

Baroque Cosmovision and present-day Cusquenian art

Some 21st century Cusquenian artists continue to paint Andean baroque images also known as the Cusquenian School, but the majority of these artists no longer see or feel the world as the 17th century artists did, they express in their works another way of understanding religion, art, society...in the era of globalisation and new technology, with the hope that cultural diversity will not disappear in order to show the difference and reaffirm us as Peruvians,
with the need to keep current art alive and impregnated in the social and cultural fabric of Cusco.

The current artist will be imbued with Andean baroque models, present in temples and museums such as painting and sculpture, together with all the techniques and creative processes that are still in force today and continue to be used fused with contemporary techniques and media.

Visual artists circulate in diverse creative areas, are characterised by their appropriation, are multidisciplinary on the basis of circulation and experimentation, and are influenced by pluralism, globalisation and exhibition strategies. Therefore, the current painting with dyes of tradition will have a hard battle against the proposals of contemporary art (new artistic behaviours and new technology), the eternal conflict between tradition and modernity of discursive plurality. Ultimately, this clash of past and present canons, which differ in concept and aesthetics, will give rise to a unique and original painting: a neo-baroque art with an air of antiquity while remaining contemporary.

The Andean Baroque was an artistic current of great impact that spread throughout Upper Peru and other neighbouring countries. This movement, typical of Western culture, shaped a new way of conceiving art, starting from different historical and cultural contexts, and therefore radically transformed the culture and society of those times and continues to do so, influencing many artists today.

 Richard Peralta

"It is a set of works fundamentally "neo-baroque" about angels and archangels, materialised in oil on canvas and mixed techniques, as a maker of living images, he plays between the earthly and the celestial, between the human and the divine, showing us these beings half divine, half human; so close and alive in front of our eyes. Perhaps because he uses images of real models to create them, this is the reason why we feel so close to his angels and archangels, and allows us for a few moments to see ourselves and move among them. After a long workshop work, we are now in front of this exhibition, which is also presented in the cloisters of a convent; a place that gives us the ideal atmosphere to appreciate and assimilate it in its real dimension."

Oscar Casafranca Vásquez
ARTISTA VISUAL Y GESTOR CULTURAL