Rafael Barrios

Rafael Barrios was born November 22, 1947, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Venezuelan parents, and was raised in Venezuela. He studied at the Museo de Bellas Artes in Caracas, where he received the National Youth Painting Award in 1963, and later studied at New York University. He is a sculptor known for large scale public works made of brightly colored, geometric metal forms that use optical illusion to suggest three dimensional depth and instability in flat or thin material, an approach informed by Alexander Calder. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he has participated in more than 100 solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. His work is held in the collections of the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. His awards include the Sculpture Award at the Ernesto Avellán Exhibition, the McLean Foundation Scholarship from the Ontario College of Art in Canada, second prize at the Sofía Ímber Caracas Contemporary Museum's Biennial of Visual Arts, and the Conferry Award at the First Sculpture Biennial of the Francisco Narváez Contemporary Art Museum on Margarita Island, Venezuela. He has also worked as art director for UNESCO and as a stage designer for photographer Chris von Wangenheim for Vogue and Esquire. Barrios lives and works between Miami, Florida, and Caracas, Venezuela.