On Friday, 26 September, the exhibition entitled DESDE LA VEREDA (FROM THE SIDEWALK), a painting exhibition by Piero Quijano, will open to the public. Curated by Jorge Villacorta, the artist pays tribute to Lima’s architecture from the late 1940s to 1960.

The curator notes:  “Drawing and colour play an equal role in his notion of pictorial space. The linearity of his drawing is a fundamental characteristic for his work, which stems from his observation of the geometry of the building he is contemplating and then recalls in his studio. It is the colour that elicits in the public the possible interpretations that bring the painter closer to a Lima of migration, which is much more Andean than in the 1950s.”

He adds that “the artistic work in his current proposal is surprising for its timeless quality. This is mainly because there is no representation of individuals or crowds in the series. Perhaps this is why the tone of the feeling of nostalgia, so present in his other works changes. The artistic work here has a joy that affirms sunny days in the city. The fantasy is so powerful that the longing slips away, and Quijano’s painting remains in its curious splendour.”

The artist has chosen buildings that shaped the public space of downtown Lima and other districts from around 1950 onwards.   Born at the end of that decade, the painter grew up in the wake of an image of Lima that no longer exists.  For him, depicting the capital city in contemporary painting means showing an urban and civic modernity that cries out for a reinterpretation.

Piero Quijano (Lima, 1959) is a painter and an illustrator who has had numerous solo and group exhibitions. He has been an illustrator for various Peruvian media outlets. He trained in the drawing workshop of sculptor Cristina Gálvez and then took courses specialising in at Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes.  At the same time, he received lessons from the master Leslie Lee.  He lived in Rio de Janeiro, where he studied at the Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Laje.   Upon his return to Peru, he pursued a degree in art history at the School of Art of the National University of San Marcos.   In his work, he has explored themes such as the urban landscape, popular music performers and their audiences.