BIOGRAPHY
About Rafa Fonseca
Rafael Antonio Fonseca Acevedo was born in Bogotá (Colombia) on May 17, in 1988.
He is a truly exceptional hyper-realist artist. At an early age he showed an interest in drawing, where he explored various techniques and materials, especially graphite. During his last years of Architecture studies, he decided to return to his passion for drawing and art, thus discovering a revolutionary painting tool, the airbrushing art.
After finishing his training as an architect, he decided to dedicate himself fully to acrylic and airbrush painting art, beginning his personal artistic search, fascinated by the precision and detail in the images. He was inclined by hyper-realism, thus beginning to develop as a main theme in his works, human portraits and animal figures, giving high value to the connection of the gaze between living beings (the windows of the soul) using his airbrush as the main tool, traditional brushes and other mixed techniques. He trained as a self-taught airbrush painting artist, developing his own artistic proposals where he involves the human portrait, nature as an essential factor in life and its deterioration through human history, with a touch of Magical Realism and critical perspective. He seeks to captivate the viewer through his meticulous painting technique. He does not believe in just capturing a snapshot in time but taking the viewer into a visual journey that stirs the senses and leaves a dramatic impression, Through his unique style using the contrast between black and white and color as a metaphor between life and death, in this way Rafa Fonseca creates his hyperrealist-surrealist paintings.
-
In 2015 Rafa Fonseca received International recognition, when his work was selected in the German magazine Step by Step (2015) Spanish version, also being on the cover (2018) for the same magazine with his work El Colombiano for the English version in the USA and an article in the German version.
-
GRAU Prize for the Arts 2018 Homage to Women. August 14 2018, Honorable Mention Painting Mode of the 2018 Grand Prize for the Arts with the Work Yearnings.
-
In 2022 received International recognition for his first painting of the series PIW Playing in the water, this painting was selected as the cover of Magzoid- Luxury Magazine in the Creative. Space - March 2022 Edition
-
He was also featured in Coffee Table Book – “Artists in Focus 2022”, featuring renowned and prestigious artists from around the world.
-
Special edition catalog ModPortrait 2022, PIW 3 Artwork
-
In 2023 he was invited to teach in Maxdorf Germany in two workshops on human portraiture and animal portraiture, where he taught hyper-realistic airbrush painting, traditional brushes and mixed media.
-
In 2024 he was invited to participate in a group exhibition at GALERIA AZUR BERLIN from April 18 to May 17. https://galeriaazur.art/artist/rafa-fonseca/
Currently his work is being exhibited in Singapore, China, USA and in Colombia.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I’m currently focused on setting childhood as the main theme of my work. I think after
becoming a dad my vision of the world sharply changed in a very positive way and
that’s why I want all my spectators to see themselves reflected in my artworks
through the transparent and deep gaze of a child. I believe that the faces and body
language of the children show the real essence of the human being.
As a grown up I want to encourage people to never lose that beautiful essence due
to is the only way we can experience joy and happiness in the same way kids do
with simple things like the water passing through their hands, or when the sun gently
warms their faces or even when they feel the touch of the earth. We definitely need
to remember how to find the beauty in simple things.
The connection we have with the water is the main element in my new series PIW
(Playing in the water) which is intended to contrast the water with the dry skin. That
vital element gives life and color to the children who appear in my artworks but in the
other hand the absence of water in some areas takes away that life and brings
dryness.
For this series I’m using acrylic paintings which I atomize through my airbrush. I’m
also using brushes and some mixed techniques in order to bring accuracy and get
an amazing result in every detail, leading the people to the experience of realism.
Every piece I make has my inner thoughts and my own vision of life and even when
I let the painting speaks for itself, I can guarantee that every person that has the
chance to see and experience my work will understand how important are the
children for me. We all were kids and we should not abandon the innocence, honesty
and purity that we he received as a gift during our first years in this world.
Let ́s work hard to build a better world for our children so they’ll be able to grow up
in an environment full of art and love.
