Julio Larraz at Home in Miami

Julio Larraz, one of the world’s finest Latin artists, lives and works in Miami. Though noted for his remarkable paintings, Larraz is also an incredible sculptor. The sculptures of Julio Larraz are currently on display at Bayfront Park and will remain on exhibit through December 19, 2017 to coincide with Art Basal Miami.

The exhibit, which features nine large-scale sculptures, was organized by NAMLA, the Nader Art Museum Latin America. NAMLA, located in Miami, serves to promote the works of premier Latin artists.

A Pretext for Painting

The works of Julio Larraz are technically exquisite and are filled with irony and humor. At first glance, a painting may appear serene, but a closer look may reveal some disturbing nuance. Larraz denies that his work is political or social commentary. “For me, the subject matter is a good pretext for painting,” he says, “and it really stops there.”

Feeding the Subconscious

Larraz begin painting when he was a teenager, but had no formal training and no artists in his family. His father was a newspaper publisher in Havana, who moved the family to Miami in 1961, then to Washington, D.C. and finally to New York, where Larraz studied with artist and illustrator David Levine. Larraz drew political caricatures for the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Vogue Magazine, and other publications.

In an interview with Arte Fuse last year, Larraz said that he has no idea where the images he paints, or the names he gives them, come from, other than his subconscious. “Undoubtedly, you have to feed your subconscious.” he said. “You have to feed it with literature, with music, with cinema, with looking through books of art that refresh what you already know. Those are natural ways. I don’t do it as homework. I do it because I am forever thirsty for new images and new things to read.”

Many of Larraz’s paintings contain images of the sea which, he says, reminds him of his childhood in Cuba.

Works by Julio Larraz For Sale at Surovek Gallery

 Please contact us for more information about the works of Julio Larraz available at Surovek Gallery.