Dairo Vargas is a contemporary abstract artist who draws inspiration from Baroque and Renaissance masterpieces, bringing a modern and unique perspective to the connection between the past and present.
Tiger Hunt After Rubens is typical of Dairo’s work, which has featured at The Royal Academy and is in many private collections worldwide.
Dairo’s landscapes and portraits are in a vivid and energetic abstract expressionist style that connects the old and new, with his work directly referencing classic scenes with a modern twist. Tiger Hunt After Rubens acknowledges the power and beauty of the Master’s work while contemporising the style, drawing the viewer in with a powerful emotional and psychological pull with themes of love and death and all the emotions that these generate, encouraging introspection and reflection.
Dairo says of Tiger Hunt After Rubens: “I want to convey the relationship between past and present emotional dynamics presented in this potent work.
The addition of gestural brushstrokes turns the narrative into a distorted series of emotions. I want to explore the idea that ‘Tiger Hunt’ in today’s society might evoke different responses than it did in Ruben’s time.
Going beyond the abstract allows the viewer to dictate their own narrative. I want them to feel the emotion of the animals – amplifying their suffering and the fight for survival – which ultimately reflects that of our own”.
Dairo Vargas is also a champion of mental health awareness and works worldwide with his Art Listens project. Dairo works with people of all ages and abilities, showing them how to use art to encourage mental well-being and healing.
Art therapy is a powerful tool, and it is well known that it can have a positive effect on our mental health. Viewing and analysing art stimulates the brain. Dairo’s work pushes you to consider the confluence of old and new, and it can be stimulating and healing.
Dairo’s work has been shown worldwide in London (including the Royal Academy), Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Dubai and Hong Kong and features in many private collections.
About the Artist
Colombian by birth, Dairo Vargas is a contemporary fine artist who draws influence from the Renaissance and Baroque periods to cast a connection with our behaviour in modern society. His abstract work directly references the old masters while simultaneously conveying differing psychological states.
Vargas is interested in the representation of external responses from internal experience and vice versa. Each image gives access to subconscious memories and emotions. The paintings appear to be either in stillness or movement and the fluid brush strokes invite the viewer to reflect on personal memory and encourage introspection.
The work aims to capture the thinking process. Vargas uses gestural free association to represent the mind at the point it connects to a higher energy, releasing unlimited thoughts and emotions.
Discover more work by the Artist on www.dairovargas.com or on Instagram @DairoVargas
Stay inspired,
Arte & Lusso.
