Gonzalo Endara Crow

GONZALO ENDARA CROW (Bucay, 1936 – Quito, 1996).
Untitled, 1991.
Acrylic on panel.
Signed and dated at the bottom.
Measurements: 38 x 38 cm; 53 x 53.5 cm (frame).
A small Andean village stretches out before us as if it belonged to a world suspended between reality and a dream. In the background, a snow-capped volcano dominates the landscape; in the foreground, a white church occupies the center of the composition, and above it, a rainbow of vivid colors spans a sky of violet hues. This ability to transform the everyday into something extraordinary is one of the hallmarks of Gonzalo Endara Crow’s painting; he is one of the leading figures of magical realism in Latin American art. In his work, the Ecuadorian landscape, traditional architecture, and the lives of its inhabitants coexist naturally with impossible elements. It is the bells suspended in midair that definitively introduce the fantastical dimension. This motif appears repeatedly in Endara Crow’s universe. Intense color is equally fundamental, as it draws on a rich chromatic palette that connects with the folk and artisanal aesthetics of the Andes—one of the artist’s primary sources of inspiration.
Gonzalo Endara Crow has participated in numerous exhibitions in Ecuador, Latin America, the United States, and Europe. In 1982, he became associated with the Henri Rousseau group in Switzerland and received the Silver Medal at the International Swiss Naïve Painting Prize; he later won another Silver Medal at the 16th Congress of Naïve Artists in Trebnje, in the former Yugoslavia. In 1984, he received the First Audience Choice Award in Havana. His work is represented in major collections and museums, including the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, the Museum of Fine Arts in Caracas, the Museum of Modern Art of Latin America in Washington, the Miguel Urrutia Art Museum in Bogotá, the University of Essex Collection of Latin American Art, and the José Luis Cuevas Museum in Mexico City.