Enrique Azocar - Visual Artist

Low Park
Newbrough
Hexham
NE47 5AG
Tel: 01434 674344

www.enriqueazocar.com

Brief history with Samling Foundation : "I made my first contact with The Samling Foundation in 1999 when I arrived in England from South America. Since then I have exhibited my work with them every year having a very good response from the public which I have apreciated very much. They are extremely well organized, and The Samling Foundation motivates me to create new work for every Art Summer event, where Art and business are together in one aim. helping new artists. It is also a secure window for artists future achievments".

Past Achievements : Simon Patrich Gallery, Vancouver; Artespacio Gallery, Santiago; Tomas andreu Gallery, Santiago; Albemarle Gallery, London; Shire Pottery Gallery, Alnwick; Torrance Gallery, Edinburgh;
Samling Foundation, Theatre by The Lake, Keswick; Interiors Gallery at Corbridge; The Art Tour exhibition.

Current Activities : Working for future exhibitions. Tutoring in Spanish language and Art classes - Common Purpose Program.

Forthcoming activities: Shire Pottery gallery in February. Moot Hall, Hexham. Artespacio gallery, Santiago.
The Art Tour exhibition.

Reviews: The Hexham Courant - A talented Chilean artist who has settled in 'Tynedale with his family has seen his first major exhibition open in London this week. Paintings by Enrique Azocar join work by five other artists at the Albemarle Gallery in the city's West End for the exhibition which opened yesterday and runs until Saturday, February 3rd. "I'm delighted to be exhibiting at the Albemarle. It will be good for my portfolio, good for Northumberland too, and the spectrum of buyers will be wider," he said. Enrique lives in Newbrough with his wife Anne, whose family live in the area, and two young children. On arriving in Tynedale last year he set up his studio in the village's cricket pavilion (he was featured in the Courant in June last year) and has since exhibited at the Inexteriors Gallery in Corbridge.
The London exhibition features five of his works looking at nature. The catalogue says: "His treatment of the subject is delicate and sensitive, resulting in atmospheric paintings, harmoniously combining reality with the surreal." Enrique's work will be available for closer inspection nearer home later in the year when he exhibits in Alnwick.

The Hexham Courant, Friday 2 June 2000 - The quaint and typically English setting of the cricket pavilion at Newbrough seems an unlikely place to find a leading Chilean artist working on his latestcommission.
With the doors open wide on a gloriously sunny day, Enrique Azocar can enjoy the vista of beautiful pastures surrounding the neatly clipped cricket pitch, a view so alien in his native country. The green and pleasant land that surrounds this unusual studio has captured the imagination of the artist who has arrived in Tynedale by following his heart, and in doing so has added a feather in the area's artistic cap. Enrique arrived in Hexham with his wife Anne and their two children Antonia (4) and Thomas (2) just two months ago, with the intention of settling down in the area. Anne is originally from Hexham and the couple met while she was on her travels around the world, having spent 12 years in Australia. After a few years living in Santiago, Enrique, Anne and family returned to Hexham and they are now searching for tbejr ideal home - one that includes space for a studio. Enrique's temporary studio at Newbrough, arranged by brother-in-law Robert who plays for the team, has proved to be a rather different but inspiring place to work.
The artist, whose inspirational still life paintings are reminiscent of the work of Rembrandt, Vermeer and Velazquez, concedes he may allow cricket to infiltrate onto his canvas. He states quite simply: "I am a realistic painter." However, on viewing his work, the description that he paints a realism which is based on a foundation of symbolism, becomes apparent to the casual viewer. He echoes the great theory that "less is more" and this is paraded beautifully in the stunning oil on canvas, The Feather, perfectly capturing the minimalist concept. Symbolism becomes important in Hope, another of his works of oil on canvas and also in 'Lily'. Enrique trained under the wing of leading Chilean artist Andres Baldwin, who encouraged in his student an appreciation of the fundamentals of draughtmanship, a clear understanding of form and a love for the simplicity of the natural world plays a part in Enrique's work, but the 39-year-old artist has also been influenced by other powerful forces.
Born in Concepcion where his family are today, Enrique experienced Pinochet's Chile and the country's emergence from this political regime has had a significant effect on the arts, he says. "There has been a lot of change in Chile, but now it needs to settle," said Enrique. "It has been interesting living through that period. I feel that I was part of a very important political moment." His painting The Feather is also an expression of freedom inspired by political change. Chile, however, provided Enrique with one of the most important exhibitions of his career to date. Last summer, a collection of his work was exhibited at Artespacio in Santiago in an exhibition simply entitled Realism. He has worked in New York and London and also exhibited in Canada, as well as receiving other commissions including a painting to help launch a new Mazda model in Chile. Since arriving in Britain, Enrique has been making plans to see his work exhibited here and is making contacts locally and in London. Impressed by our beautiful countryside, the friendly people - and the colourful flowers in Hexham which at first sight he thought were plastic - Enrique says life here will make a big impression on his work. Hopefully it will not be too long before that work is exhibited in Tynedale

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