ZikadeXArt Austellung von Carlos Manrique und Sohn

Zikade X Art is entering its 8th edition; following successful exhibitions in recent months, we’re excited to feature two artists!

Carlos Manrique and his son, Carlos Manrique Engels.

Carlos Manrique Engels:
 

I’m an artist from Cologne (38 years old) and have been painting for a very long time. I give free rein to my art and style on the canvas—mostly using acrylic paints. “From my perspective, my style can be explained as follows: I emphasize my strong colors—which are often striking and powerful—in my figurative forms and also incorporate them into the background of the painting.”

At first—as is often the case with inexperienced Expressionists or artists working in representational painting—I used painting solely for myself, as an experience and a form of personal perception. This allowed me to develop my own style. After a few years, I’ve come to appreciate my art.

What it means to be a true independent artist: Since I come from a family of artists and needed more space for my works—the creation of which required a high level of intense focus—I made a decision and successfully moved into a studio. There, over the past 4–5 years, I’ve been able to paint and have created approximately 35–50 works, both small and large.

Carlos Manrique: 

Carlos Manrique, a Venezuelan, has lived and worked in Cologne for many years. However, his paintings and sculptural world have always been shaped by the impressions and experiences of his homeland. Symbols and patterns appear like living, magnified tiny creatures; masks dance across his canvases, imbuing each of his paintings with a mythological quality.

With his body of work to date, Carlos Manrique has created a cohesive whole—a unity that speaks just as much of life and transience as it does of the joy of playing with colors and symbols