Leonel Góngora | R.Michelson Galleries

Leonel Góngora was born in Cartago, Colombia on December 19, 1932 and studied at Escuela de Bellas Artes, Bogota, Colombia, and with Max Beckman at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. In 1959 he traveled to Europe, living in Italy. From 1960 to 1963 he lived in Mexico City and was a founding member of Nueva Presencia,and Salon Independiente. He moved to New York City in 1963 and shortly after moved to Amherst and became a professor of painting at the University of Massachusetts for 30 years. His work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico; the Smith College Museum of Art in Northampton, Massachusetts; the Houston Art Museum in Houston, Texas; the Museo Nacional in Bogota, Columbia; and the New York Public Library in New York among others. He died in 1999.

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Desmayo	Visita al Prado	Ecstacy of Francis
El Abrazo	Holding a Memory	El Danzante
"I think a cool, minimalist and intellectual attitude would be an antithesis for me coming from where I come – a world so prolific with real imagery and exuberance – and because of this, I bring a sensual intention in my work."
Alguien le dijo	Politics	El Sueno en el Espejo
Juan, after Velazquez	Standing Nude	Susan
Maternidad	Standing Nude	Susan
"Powerful images are the loving experiences that should be always present at our own end. But we only take with us the intangible: faces, kisses, poetry… My work is the home of my eye, and it is there where I hide Death."
Sorprendido	Los misterios	Presencia
Mirandose en el espejo	La Fornarina	Dialogo
Góngora created an alter-ego for himself he called The Secret Painter (El Pintor Secreto.) It was based on the Spanish legend of the same name, a mysterious roaming stranger that would seduce virgins, paint portraits of them and leave without a trace. He would often paint images of himself watching from a distance or even interacting with his subjects. The device of The Secret Painter put a voyeuristic distance between the artist and his subject. He spoke of the eroticism of his work as representing the liberating life force inherent in humankind. He said “Eroticism is life and rebellion, and that it is the answer to Death.” The Secret Painter is the elusive seducer coaxing the spirit to liberation from repression.