Rodrigo Cifuentes was born in Jalisco, Mexico in 1980 to Spanish descendents who immigrated during the 1930s. Growing up in a violent landscape shaped his pictorial temper. He further developed this at the National School of Painting, Sculpture and Graphics; La Esmeralda (ENPEG) in Mexico City.

Cifuentes’ work first permeated the public arena in 2001 when he was selected for sponsorship at the Mexican Art Festival Expresarte, today his works are also part of the Secretaria de Hacienda y Crédito Público Museum Collection.

As an emerging Mexican artist, Cifuentes analyzes the dichotomy of the Latin American myth and the American dream in his society. The deafening presence of an expressionist scream speaks to that social discontent, approaching such subjects as the unreachability of the American dream, loss of innocence, and mass consumption.

Rodrigo Cifuentes currently lives and works in Mexico City.

Artist Statement

My main concern when producing artwork is to always surprise the observer, using everything possible within my grasp, whether it is morbid, serene, humorous or hardcore. No matter the subject I choose, my main objective is to provide the audience with an unforgettable experience.

Fundamentally, the proposed work integrates the possible with the impossible, as well as technique and spirit, particularly developed in a realistic style that plays an important role by introducing the observer into my game. Also linked to the subject is the chromatic gamma which will be used in each piece; done, and to be done, making use of the short palette, which enhances the painter’s intentions, impregnating the artwork with a strong and enigmatic atmosphere. It is not this text’s intention to praise my virtues, whatever they are, since I consider myself a clown of the trade, someone who plays with sensations and reactions.

I am merely a visceral painter, always governed and advised by order and reason.

Rodrigo Cifuentes' blog: Otherness