As part of the “The Game of Animals” series, Harpy Eagle explores how the failure of Venezuelan politics has driven its citizens to rely on mysticism and fortune as tools for hope and meaning in the midst of the ongoing crisis. The painting showcases the titular animal as a sacred entity that brings hope through the mundane items that it carries. Inspired by the luminesce of Frederic Remington’s paintings, De la Rosa depicts his home city, Caracas, with a dreamlike quality.

Diego de la Rosa

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Diego de la Rosa is a Venezuelan artist that is currently living and working in Toronto. His work explores the cultural impact of the social crisis in his native country, and relies on symbolism to explore the ideas and sentiments born from this reality. His process involves the collection of found imagery of people and places from Venezuela that are then rearranged into painted narratives full of imaginative elements, such as giants, theatrical atmosphere, and fantastical characters. The source imagery represents the perceived reality, while the painting tactics embody the values and ideas that are employed to create a reading for these circumstances. The use of allegory in his paintings provides an artistic translation of social concepts similar to the interpretative approach of an anthropological study. He uses these painted scenarios to illustrate both the cultural notions surrounding the crisis, and critical theories on frustration, resilience, spatial inhibition and the desire for power, which he employs to analyze the subject at hand. Through his work, De la Rosa creates images that universalize issues of oppression, crime and social struggle, evoking empathy in societies so distant from his own.