Ecuador celebrates independence with fine art

The Ecuadorean Embassy is running an exhibition of work by the artist Hernan Illescas, titled “Symbols of Dreams.”

The chancery organized a number of events in August celebrating Ecuador’s independence, with its national day being Aug. 10.

“On Aug. 10 Ecuador made a call not only to all the villages in the royal audience of Quito but also to all of the other villages in Latin America for independence,” said Jorge Alberto Icaza Gustinez, consul general and deputy head of mission and consular affairs at the Ecuadorian Embassy. 

At the exhibition, 12 paintings from a collection of 60 pieces, which was shown in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in China, are being exhibited at Gallery Bellarte in Insa-dong, Seoul. The exhibition will continue through Sept. 5. The embassy also took time to remember the death of Atahualpa, the last emperor of the Incan Empire, at the opening reception of the exhibition, an official at the chancery said.

Illescas is a multifaceted artist who, over his 30-year career, has earned awards and honorable mentions in more than 220 exhibitions, both individual and collective in Europe, the Americas and, most recently, China and South Korea.

The search for truth in art and the expression of symbols are paths toward creating art, the embassy described Illescas as saying in a press statement. “The imaginary environments that surround him in different places around the world give him the motivation to create.”

Hernan Illescas has created various murals in the city of Cuenca, where he studied art at Cuenca’s School of Fine Arts. A mural of his can be seen at the monument to the battle of Tarqui.

(ephilip2014@heraldcorp.com)