about me

Rafael Varela is an artist who has long struggled within the parameters of figurative tradition. Figurative art, in its various forms (painting, sculpture, drawing, and engraving), has generally shaped the visual map of Salvadoran visual art. However, while acknowledging the weight of that tradition, Varela has consciously chosen to explore the formal properties afforded by the absolute dimension of color. He has ventured into the world of abstract art, just as great masters of universal figurative art have done; let us not forget that Kandinsky, Mondrian, and Malevich all had figurative periods well recognized in art history before being recognized as undisputed precursors of global abstract art.