Rodrigo López Argüello (Rolo) started loving the world of art since 5th grade in the early 90’s after winning a mural design contest for his school, Escuela Americana, El Salvador. This event marked the beginning of his continuous involvement in the art’s department throughout middle and high school, which permitted him to leave behind two life size sculptures (concrete and metal). The concrete sculpture still stands 20 years after the making.
In the middle of his senior year, he was granted a theater scholarship from Carroll University, Wisconsin. He double majored in theater and fine arts and received awards from each department. After two years, Rolo transferred to Loyola University, New Orleans where he received a degree in Public Relations and Marketing.
Just as he finished college, he had a very interesting and unique experience while working for Sherwin Williams of Central America. Being part of the regional marketing department of a large paint factory, he regularly visited the lab and transformed what he had learned in college to a hands-on experience in chemical composition of pigments, resins and other elements as well as color theory.
Rolo is now a full-time artist and constantly applies everything he has learned in the past to produce a variety of works of art that fit under Abstract Informalism and Minimalism. He is recognized by his use of texture that symbolizes the rough, rugged and sometimes sharp road of all perseverant beings.
Rolo has participated in different group and solo art exhibitions:
El Salvador: (Committee suggestion for the auctions SUMARTE 2017 and 2018 (Both pieces successfully auctioned), Forma Museum, Galería 123, Solo Exhibition at Luis Poma Theater, 2 Auctions for the El Salvadoran League Against Cancer, Young Presidents Organization group expo “Secret Garden”, Palacio Tecleño (Honorable mention in the Sixth Annual Abstract Festival), Mini Galería Project, Inspiraciones del Alma of Davivienda Bank and “VOLARTE”, Il Bongustaio (Duo exhibit with the artist Boris Ciudad Real), Inaugural exhibit for the Watercolor Gallery “Armando Solís” at El Salvador University and a solo exhibition at the Salvadoran United States Embassy.
Guatemala: Selected artist for the group exhibits: "Arte en Mayo" 2017, 2018 and 2019, for the group exhibit “10 x 10”, Selected artist to make a mural in front of Rozas-Botrán Gallery in Cayalá, “Arte en las Calles” and "Palabras Prestadas" by foundation and gallery Rozas- Botrán.
Costa Rica: Selected artist for the world-wide group exhibition: “Acuarela Tropical” of the International Watercolor Society, group exhibit at Sofía Wanamaker Gallery and group exhibit in San Ramón Museum.
Panamá: Group exhibits at Cirici Gallery.
United States of America: Our Generation Masters group exhibit at Rojas Ford Fine Art, Coral Gables, Miami, Fl. Group exhibits at the Carroll Arts Department, Wisconsin.
His works of art belong to a numerous groups of both public and private collections in:
Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Toronto, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panamá, Colombia, Vienna and Singapore.
Rolo is currently working on four different series based on one word, PERSEVERANCE. Each series is part of simultaneous efforts that tell stories of humanity’s continuous desire to succeed. This is a reminder that successful individuals will not have an easy path, since it’s absolutely normal for adverse and harsh events to occur in every perseverant journey.
His unconventional textures made out of a mixture of acrylic medium, sand, cork, glass, mirror, granite and marble flakes, quartz dust, dried paint, wood chips, among other solid components symbolize the rough, rugged and sometimes sharp road that we as perseverant beings choose to take since prehistoric ages. This is why Rolo refuses to use only diluted acrylic on his works of art.
Perseverance is uncomfortable, could be risky, requires hard work and sometimes could put you in danger, but when you reach success, you look back and say: "It was worth it."
Since perseverance is an abstract thought, I consider myself an abstract artist focused on the Neo informalism movement.
Different series, same message:
PAPYRUS:
Inspired by the first medium of the written word used to spread ideas massively.
COCOON:
Nature teaches us that a worm has the capability to transform into a butterfly. This huge improvement happens after the transition period or “cocoon”, which faces difficult and sometimes dangerous moments.
HORIZON:
An imaginary finish line that is always there to guide us in the good times and the bad. It’s not meant to be reached, it’s meant to remind us to keep moving forward.
LABYRINTH:
Sometimes we feel lost while relentlessly pursuing success. These are times where we need to stop, calm down and look for a way out.
© 2023 by Odam Lviran. Proudly created with Wix.com.