Artist Spotlight

Pedro Vizcaino

Name:  Pedro Vizcaino

City:    Miami

Birthplace: Havana, Cuba

Artistic Medium:  Collage over paper, paper sculptures.  Painting on canvas, some installations with cardboard and drawings.

How did you get started?
Ever since I was a child I would look at Walt Disney comics (Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, etc.) and liked them a lot. My grandmother played piano and would show me posters by Joan Miro, and  prints by Goya that she had saved with great happiness.  My grandmother is the one that insisted that I study at the school of art, she taught and motivated me to draw from when I was very small.

Who or what are your influences?
The drawings of children, outsider artists, graffiti, pop art, Bad Painting and some artists like Keith Haring, Dubuffet, Oldenburg, Estella, etc.  Some modern Cuban painting, European expressionism and North American abstract.  The dirtiness of some areas of New York City or Havana.

What inspires your work?
I am inspired seeing the art of children, the freedom that they work with. Listening to rock music and reading comic books since I was young.  Also graffiti, pop art and cubism.  Looking at fine art in museums and walking in New York City.

How does Miami/South Florida influence your work?
What I breathe in on the streets, the sky with its intensity and luminosity.  The taxis on the streets and the intense movement of the airplanes entering and leaving the city. The luminosity of the city. In conclusion, all the mix of Latin and black culture of the city.

How would you describe your work?
Graffitti, pop art, children’s drawings, Outsider artists with elitist and street culture.  To preserve the spontaneous movement instinct.

What has been the most unusual reaction to your work from the public?
For people to say that my drawings can be made by or are the same as those of a 3-year-old child!  That my work has no value because I paint like a child.

What would you like to achieve as an artist?
To experiment and paint a lot, and not to be satisfied with what I am accomplishing as far as originality.  Read and learn about the artists that have created schools.  Respect the public that loves good art.

Upcoming shows:
ADN -ALIEN (paintings, collages & drawings)
Ardex Gallery
506 Biltmore Way, Coral Gables
786-552-7339
February 2

Where is your work available?
My studio, 305-285-9447

If you are an artist and would like to be a part of Artist Spotlight, contact Mary Damiano at StarrWriter2000@aol.com