Miguel Betancourt

Miguel Betancourt
Miguel Betancourt
	Miguel Betancourt
Born	5 January 1958 (age 66); Quito, Ecuador
Education	Milwaukee Art Center,; Slade School of Fine Art University College London,; Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador
Known for	Contemporary Art
Website	www.miguelbetancourt.com

Miguel Betancourt (born 5 January 1958) is an Ecuadorian contemporary artist living in Quito, Ecuador. He was formed as an artist in Ecuador, the United States, and the United Kingdom. His paintings are a fusion of local cultural motives and colors, and Western artistic influence.

Life

Born in Quito, Ecuador in 1958, Betancourt grew up in the outskirts of the city (Cumbayá). In 1974, he initiated art classes with Ecuadorian artist, Oswaldo Moreno. In 1976–1977, he went to study at the Milwaukee Art Center, United States, for a year. Upon his return to Ecuador, he enrolled in the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador to study Pedagogy and Literature until 1982, while continuing to develop his artistic career. In 1988, he was invited by the Department of State of the US to a Cultural Tour. In the same year, the British Council awarded him a scholarship to study a postgraduate art degree at the Slade School of Fine Art at the University College London. During his time in London, Betancourt befriended British artist John Hoyland.

Artistic career

Among his several representations, some of the most important in the 1990s were: the XLV. Venice Biennale, Italy in 1993; Eros in Ecuadorian Art, Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts Santiago de Chile and the National Museum of Archeology, Anthropology and History of Peru Lima, 1998; Ecuador in Spain, Casa de las Americas, Madrid, 2000; and Latin American Artists: A Contemporary Journey, Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California, 2001. Career highlights in the late 2000s include his participation as Guest of Honor to the V. International Art Biennial SIART in La Paz, Bolivia, (2007), and in The Night of the Museums in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2009).^[3] At the beginning of 2011, Betancourt participated in the "Exhibition of Latin American and Caribbean Artists" in the Tokyo City Hall. In July 2012, he took part in a collective exhibition "Ecuador Beyond Concepts" at the gallery of the Instituto Cervantes in Rome.^[4] In 2013, the Gallery Bandi-Trazos invited him to be part of the Latin-American Pavilion at the International Art Fair, in the Beijing Exhibition Center. In 2014 he was one of three artists at the "Ecuador in Focus" exhibition held at the OPEC Fund for International Development headquarters in Vienna and became founding member of the Art Résilience movement in Paris. In 2016, he participated in ARTE15 as homage to Habitat III in Quito. Since 2017, his itinerant one-man show has been presented in various Asian cities (Beijing, Nanjing, Seoul and Tokyo) as well as in Latin America, including "Ninfas, Meninas y la Mirada del Pintor", in Alianza Francesa, Quito and, also, in the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Cuenca, 2018; "Mnemografías", Saladentro gallery, Cuenca, 2019; "Quito Readings", at the Global Migration Forum, Quito, 2020; "Transparencies of the Middle Country", an exhibition of painting on paper, in Torre del Reloj Gallery, Mexico City, 2020. From 2008 to the present date, his work is part of a traveling exhibition, Imago Mundi Collection, which was launched by designer Luciano Benetton and sponsored by the Imago Mundi Foundation.

Betancourt has received several recognitions for his work, including the Pollock-Krasner Award in 1993, conferred by the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in New York City, United States and the Oswaldo Guayasamín Medal awarded by the Metropolitan Council of Quito in December 2020.

Betancourt continues to be involved in various projects and exhibitions in Ecuador and internationally. He was recently invited to participate in the NY Latin American Art Triennial 2022.

Collections

His work can be found in national and international collections: United Nations offices in Vienna and in Geneva (specifically in UNAIDS), Inter-American Development Bank (Tokyo), Diners Club del Ecuador, Istituto Italo-Latino Americano (Rome), Art Museum of the Americas, Organization of American States (Washington D.C.), OFID (the OPEC Fund for International Development), Vienna, the Slade School of Fine Art (London), among others.

Cosmogonías de un pintor (Cosmogonies of a Painter)

Art Series, 2023^[5]

The ancestral Indo-American heritage, primarily rooted in the Andean and equinoctial regions of pre-Columbian times, has been a significant source of creative inspiration for Miguel Betancourt throughout his artistic career.

This influence is particularly evident in Cosmogonías de un pintor, a thematic-anthological exhibition showcasing a curated selection of works inspired by pre-Hispanic creative paradigms. The collection spans over two decades, including both early and recent pieces that adhere to this aesthetic model, while also reflecting the stylistic evolution of the artist's current creative vision.

Each work selected for this exhibition encapsulates various figurative elements and, in some cases, mythological narratives derived from ancestral worldviews. These compositions bring to life symbolic elements that reflect contexts of indigenous cosmology. Together they form the cosmogonies of a painter, embodied in mythographic compositions that draw deeply from pre-Columbian inspiration.

Publications

Kraemer, S. "Betancourt: from Silence to Color", "Editorial CCE", Quito (Ecuador).
Lucie-Smith, E. (2020) "Latin American Art Since 1900", "Thames & Hudson", London (United Kingdom).
Benetton, L. et al. (2017) "Ecuador: light of time – Contemporary artists from Ecuador", Antiga Edizioni, Treviso (Italy).
Lastra, P. (2016), "El transcurrir del sueño: pinturas de Miguel Betancourt", Editorial del Trauco, Quito (Ecuador).
Betancourt, M. (2014), "Betancourt – Imágenes a trasluz",^[6] Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Quito (Ecuador).
Rodríguez, M.A. (2011) "Palabra de Pintores – Artistas del Ecuador", Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Quito (Ecuador).
Rodríguez, M.A. (2011) "Betancourt: Colores y Texturas",^[7] Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Quito (Ecuador).
The curators (2006) "Oil Paintings-London in Public Ownership: The Slade and UCL", Public Catalogue Foundation, London (United Kingdom).
Flores, I. et al. (2001) "Nuevos Cien Artistas", Revista Mundo Diners, Quito (Ecuador).
Michelena, X. and Querejeta, A. (1996) "Betancourt", Paradiso Editores, Quito (Ecuador).

Recently, articles about Betancourt's work have appeared in magazines such as Americas (OAS, Washington DC), Gatopardo (Mexico), Infinite Ecuador (Quito) and Dolce Vita (Quito), among others.

Exhibitions

(2011), "Betancourt: Colores y Texturas", Retrospective Exhibition, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana^[8] – Quito, Ecuador.
2017 Ecuador Through My Dreams, painting on paper, Superior Gallery, Seoul^[9]
2018 Ninfas, Meninas y la Mirada del Pintor, French Alliance, Quito^[10]

2015 Special Exhibition of Contemporary Ecuadorian Art, VI Beijing International Art Biennial, China^[11]

Gallery

Noche a Punto de Desbordarse, mixed over paper / wood, 120x82cm, 1992
Pajaros de la Encina, acrylic / paper, 66x103cm, 1995
Árbol de letras, mixed / hemp canvas, 256x186cm, 2001
Composicion con Figuras Diversas, acrylic / cardboard / collage, 196x210cm, 2006
Exhibition Translucent Imagery, 2014
Ninfa con Tocado S.XVII, water color / paper, 57x77cm, 2018
Entrada al Mar, water color / rice paper, 76x142cm, 2019
La Llegada del Invierno, oil / canvas, 100x120cm, 2020
Silla Ceremonial, oil / canvas, 100x100cm, 2021

References

^ Art in Embassies, from the website of the U.S. Department of States.
^ UCL Alumni Newsletter Archived 15 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine, alumni newsletter of the University College London: March 2009.
^ Article in the Américas Magazine, Blanco, A. (2010). "Expressions of Experience", Américas Magazine published by the Organization of American States, Vol. 62, Nr. 3, May/June 2010, Washington, D.C. (USA).
^ Catalogue: Betancourt – Aequatoria, Plus Ultra Conceptus, personal website of the artist.
^ Montero, Humberto (October 2022). "Cosmogonias.pdf" (PDF). «Humberto Montero» Website.
^ Catalogue: Betancourt – Imágenes a trasluz, personal website of the artist.
^ Catalogue: Betancourt – Colores y Textures, personal website of the artist.
^ Casa de la Cultura Archived 26 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana "Benjamín Carrión", Quito (Ecuador).
^ Lee, Joel (15 August 2017). "Ecuadorian artist distills mystic beauty of homeland". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
^ Video: Las caras mestizas de "Las meninas", Youtube.
^ Article: Art China, Art China website.

External links

[1] Art in Embassies, from the website of the U.S. Department of States.

[2] UCL Alumni Newsletter Archived 15 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine, alumni newsletter of the University College London: March 2009.

[3] Article in the Américas Magazine, Blanco, A. (2010). "Expressions of Experience", Américas Magazine published by the Organization of American States, Vol. 62, Nr. 3, May/June 2010, Washington, D.C. (USA).

[4] Catalogue: Betancourt – Aequatoria, Plus Ultra Conceptus, personal website of the artist.

[5] Montero, Humberto (October 2022). "Cosmogonias.pdf" (PDF). «Humberto Montero» Website.

[6] Catalogue: Betancourt – Imágenes a trasluz, personal website of the artist.

[7] Catalogue: Betancourt – Colores y Textures, personal website of the artist.

[8] Casa de la Cultura Archived 26 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana "Benjamín Carrión", Quito (Ecuador).

[9] Lee, Joel (15 August 2017). "Ecuadorian artist distills mystic beauty of homeland". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 7 August 2019.

[10] Video: Las caras mestizas de "Las meninas", Youtube.

[11] Article: Art China, Art China website.

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