Tony Vazquez-Figueroa
Bio
Tony Vazquez-Figueroa explores the substance of crude oil and its impact on Venezuela through paintings, sculptures, and installations using bitumen as a key material. His work reflects the socio-economic and cultural realities of oil-rich nations, creating a personal archive of collective memory. He lives and works between Mexico City and Miami. Vazquez-Figueroa earned his BFA in Film from Emerson College (1992), studied at San Alejandro Academy (Havana) and the New York Studio School, and completed his MFA at the Slade School of Painting, University College London, under Jenny Saville (2002). His work is held in collections including Perez Art Museum Miami, Museum of Latin American Art (California), and UNIS Museum Guatemala, and has been featured in numerous exhibitions and international art fairs.
Statement
Tony Vázquez-Figueroa investigates crude oil as both material and force, exploring its impact on history, society, and the environment. Using bitumen, he creates paintings, sculptures, and installations that reflect the socio-economic, cultural, and ecological realities of oil-rich nations. His work traces the movement and transformation of oil, revealing its duality as resource and agent of destruction, while engaging with abstraction, color, and form to explore the tension between human industry and the natural world. Through this practice, he examines memory, power, and environmental consequence.
2.5 x 4m / 98.4 x 157 in
