Ora-Ora presents: “Living with Botero” solo exhibition by Fernando Botero

_{Header image courtesy of Sotheby’s (via Ora-Ora)}

Ora-Ora is pleased to announce a landmark exhibition at its new Tai Kwun gallery space, a blockbuster solo show by renowned Colombian artist Fernando Botero. Open from 6 October to 27 November 2021, “Living with Botero” is Ora-Ora’s major autumn show. The gallery will be styled as a recreation of the artist’s apartment in New York, allowing visitors the privilege of stepping into the everyday life of Fernando Botero. The exhibition will present a way of life, a unique combination of passion, serenity, and community. It is an open invitation to everyone, one of immersion and interactivity, as visitors enter the familiar surroundings of the artist at work. It will comprise paintings and drawings never-before-seen in Hong Kong, most of which the artist lived with and counted among his personal favourites.

This much anticipated solo show brings four decades of Botero’s work to Hong Kong, as Ora-Ora brings this global phenomenon to a new audience. Highlights will include the artist’s dialogue with Vincent van Gogh, entitled Sunflowers (oil on canvas, 1977), and his enormous painting Woman in the Bathroom (oil on canvas, 2002). His unique, voluptuous interpretation of van Gogh’s legendary still life references Botero’s belief that “For an artist, the quality of the art you create, is a function of who you admire.” Woman in the Bathroom is the artist at full throttle, the heady, vibrant colour palette, paired with the loving, tender portrayal of size and volume. Its subject is both coy and red-blooded, both protagonist and startled reactionary, a festival of wavy lines and curved vivacity.

Additionally, a range of Botero-themed collectibles have been designed specifically for this show, and will be on sale at the gallery throughout the exhibition period. Running alongside will be a number of tailored events, specially created by Ora-Ora in consultation with the artist and his family.