Leo Rebolledo (1980), architect and oil pastel painter, challenges artistic norms with his unconventional technique, forged at an early age during the cultural scarcity of the Pinochet regime in Chile. Self-taught, he meticulously reproduced paintings by European masters with school crayons on makeshift cardboard surfaces, honing a distinctive style over the years. Pushing oil pastels to the limit, Rebolledo achieves captivating textures, light, and color in his works, akin to oil on canvas. Influenced by a predominantly Baroque style and his architectural background, his compositions masterfully play with light and space. Featured in prestigious publications such as American Art Collector, Fine Art Connoiseur, Create! Magazine, and The Guide Artist, Rebolledo was elected a 2023 Fellow of the American Artist Professional League and of Poets Artists, a leading international grouping of figurative artists based in the United States. His works have been hung in prestigious galleries such as Salmagundi Club in New York and the European Museum of Contemporary Art MEAM in Barcelona Spain, among others. One of his most notable works was recently incorporated into the Lunar Codex project, the most important art collection that will be deposited on the surface of the moon's south pole thanks to the Polaris mission of SpaceX and NASA, which is scheduled to launch September 2025. He currently resides in New Haven Connecticut, where he continues to perfect his innovative oil pastel technique.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

"My pictorial approach consists of creating a complex narrative through enigmatic and disturbing, often dreamlike scenes, endowed with great psychological expressiveness.

My works are memories, subconscious impulses that I try to capture in images; an attempt to unleash a dreamlike beauty, a sense of apparent reality. They are recognizable and endearing places, charged with symbolism, where elements converge, suggesting disturbing and mysterious situations. The subjects of my paintings often come from my own space and immediate surroundings, which gives my work a distinctly autobiographical character.

My realist technique is influenced by a classical aesthetic, primarily Baroque, in search of a universal and timeless language and beauty through a contemporary vision reflected in the subject matter and narrative of my compositions.

Through my art, I seek to express diverse emotions and encourage the viewer to generate their own questions and answers, completing the story by exploring the depths of their own subconscious.

By presenting an unfinished story, I invite the viewer to join me on this journey, to explore the mystery of the unknown and embrace the beauty of the enigmatic."