Ricardo Migliorisi

Ricardo Migliorisi (6 January 1948 – 14 June 2019) was a Paraguayan painter, costume designer, scenery designer and architect. Migliorisi won national and international awards. Migliorisi showed his work in many countries including the United States and Europe.

Early life

Ricardo Migliorisi was born in Asunción on 6 January 1948, to Isolina Salsa Ferraris and Salvador Migliorisi Tumino, of Italian origin. He did his elementary studies at the Dante Aliglieri School and later on, at San José School, in Asunción. His liking for the aesthetics and art were manifested at a young age and has made to mature the soul of this artist. His first artistic expressions came up when he was eighteen years old

When young, studied Plastic Arts in the Cira Moscarda Studio. In that studio many young people could give free hand to their creativity, expressed with inedited elements. The experience he lived there, gives him the impulse to come out as a transgressor in all his work.

Ricardo also studied engraving with the expert Livio Abramo, but basically he can be considered autodidactic. Later on, he studied Architecture in the Universidad Nacional de Asunción (National University of Asunción).

In the following years of his formation as an artist he gained much experience in many Latin-American countries, working as a wardrobe and scenery designer. In the beginning he used drawing and painting in most of his work, but later included different other types of elements to his creations. In a short period of time, the young artist showed the world an innovator, psychedelic and delirious style in his work.

Career

Ricardo Migliorisi emerged in the Paraguayan artistic scene in the mid-1960s, a time marked by the rise of Modernism and a period of transformation and openness across the Americas and Europe.

A multidisciplinary artist, Migliorisi left a significant artistic legacy that spans painting, illustration, sculpture, muralism, theater, and dance. His work often explored themes of fantasy, imagination, spectacle, and the right to difference—an important element of modern and contemporary human identity. Known for his vibrant and eclectic style, Migliorisi blended various media, techniques, and disciplines to construct a personal and distinctive universe.

He is widely regarded as one of the most important artists in Paraguay. In one of his well-known reflections on art, he encouraged aspiring artists: “Que no abandonen el arte. Que sigan adelante con el sueño que los impulsa. No hay nada mejor que sentirse realizado en la vida.” (“Don’t abandon art. Keep moving forward with the dream that drives you. There is nothing better than feeling fulfilled in life.”)

He has had numerous opportunities to show his work:

Also, collective expositions with contemporary artists:

Awards

During his career he received many awards.

Museums and collections

His artistic production traveled numerous exposition rooms. Some of them are:
* Contemporary Arts Museum. Madrid, Spain.
* Modern Arts Museum. National University of Bogotá, Colombia.
* Gabriel Turbay Library. Bucaramanga, Colombia.
* Museum of Zea. Medellín, Colombia.
* Coltejer Collection. Medellín, Colombia.
* Culture House. Cúcuta, Colombia.
* Paraguayan Museum of Contemporary Arts. Asunción, Paraguay.
* "The Sistine Tent". Visual Arts Center. Asunción, Paraguay.
* Contemporary Arts Museum. Maldonado, Uruguay.
* José Luís Cuevas Museum. Mexico.
* Private collections in Spain, USA, Venezuela, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, Italy, Brazil, Peru, Sweden, Japan, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, France, Ecuador, Chile, Netherlands, Germany and Paraguay.

Style

A very particular style, with an ample variety of expressive resources, paintings, montages, audio-visual experiences and installations are part of his work.

His characters are considered none too realistic, and may represent popular Latin-American subjects, animals and classic mythology, opera, circus and cabaret characters, the television and socialite, all of them with crazy tendencies.

Migliorisi presents a strong scenic sense, binding his creations to theatrical spaces. In his characters there is the mystery of the masks and the shine of footlight. The way he uses the color is a remarkable characteristic, the contrast, transparencies and textures give live to mud or metal objects. Emerge imposing plaster figures, woods of feather, glass pearls and golden stones and caracoles.

Personal life

His family, of Italian descent, lives in Asunción. He has a sister: María Cristina Migliorisi de Galiano.

Migliorisi was hospitalized in May 2019 under intensive therapy. He died on 14 June 2019, at the age of 71.

References

Further reading

* Escobar, Ticio y Amigo, Roberto. "Ricardo Migliorisi". Centro de Artes visuales. Arte Nuevo. 2002. Asunción.

External links

Enciclopedia Encarta

{{DEFAULTSORT:Migliorisi, Ricardo
1948 births
2019 deaths
Paraguayan people of Italian descent
Paraguayan painters
Universidad Nacional de Asunción alumni
Paraguayan architects
People from Asunción