Mario Padilla

 

 

​Mario’s work is inherently political. His compositions usually dive into discussions of the effects of a disappearing public sector on everyday people, uses and abuses of power, and grassroots manifestations of local cultural authenticity vis-à-vis forces of global neoliberal consolidation. His inspirations come from the essence and people of places he has lived and travelled. Many of Mario’s paintings are focused on Latin America, the subjects being mostly inspired by his different travels to Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, and throughout Colombia, journeys that he has made throughout his life, where he collects images, sketches, and ideas that he translates to canvas. Being a Latin American himself and a consistent critic of the common representation of that world, Mario tries with this collection to express the diversity of feelings that his soul needs to unveil, using images of cockfights, music, political oppression, and social relations (to name a few) to express his personal philosophies. These representations are made with additional varieties of textures, transformations of conventional forms, and warm colors. Mario studies and understands the relationship between the human being in Latin America and his relationship with the land, and tries to express this in a third possible reality on canvas. In the end, Mario continually aims to show to the world a new and original possible representation of Latin America, one that expresses all of the problems and happiness of the Andes, amazons and Central America. Mario tries to bring that America to this America, exposing a different world to his viewers.New Orleans has also been a great muse for Mario. A city filled with joy, racism, old money politics, and beautiful cultural outputs in ways that reassert a definition of the public, the landscape of life in New Orleans gives Mario a lot to reflect on in paint. Inspired by the unique performance and human celebration of Second Lines, Mario decided to create a series that describes this New Orleans tradition, a social movement that he sees as giving a great sense of public value. In the series, he works in detail on faces that scream to him through the crowd and stare at the observer to communicate their story. These people are depicted in the high energy and noise that is a Second Line, with sweeping movements surrounding the strong characters. Sculptures are made using local materials that mirror the city’s architecture, providing historical root and joyful diversity to the silhouettes.