Desert Botanical Garden has been delighted to share the larger-than-life artworks of Colombian painter and sculptor Fernando Botero with the Valley. The exhibit, made possible through a collaboration with the Museum of Latin American Art, has been the late Botero’s first major exhibition to debut in the Southwest.
Fernando Botero: El Maestro showcases the Colombian artist’s monumental sculptures, paintings and drawings that come together to describe him as an important figure in popular culture and art history.
Opening shortly after the artist’s passing in the fall of 2023, Fernando Botero: El Maestro presents a survey of the artist’s long and prolific career, including an engaging film that documents the evolution of his distinctive “Boterismo” style. Botero’s immediately recognizable style celebrates volume as beauty and pushes the limits of what we perceive as appealing to create a new visual language. As Botero said, “Reality is boring, art should be an exaggeration.”
Although Botero lived around the world, his heart was always in Colombia with the culture and people. His artworks are full of the music, dance, landscape and dress of his home country, often painted from memory and expressed in vivid colors. Botero once shared this sentiment, “For art to be universal, it has to be local.” The style of these works feels timeless and relevant, inspiring emotional reactions from visitors.
The exhibition is on view through March 31, perfect timing for visitors to experience the incomparable sculptures of Fernando Botero set against iconic desert spring blooms. Purchase tickets here.
