Based in Queens, New York, contemporary artist Omar Chacon, creates vibrant and dynamic paintings or should we call them sculptures? He is represented by galleries internationally. Omar’s work is incredible and it’s a treat to speak with such an established artist. As you read on you’ll discover more about this beautiful human and his process.
Omar in his studio in New York
Omar, tell me all about your background. Were you born here or in Colombia?
I was born in Bogota, Colombia. My family moved to the states in 1989, a year of heightened turmoil in Colombia. It was a cultural shock to say the least, moving to a country where capitalism ruled everything and everything was shiny and new. We moved to Texas and I am glad Texas was the first place I lived in in the vastness that is the USA.
Mario Suarez (Omar’s grandfather), house acrylic paint on particle board, 7.25 x 11.5”, circa 1970
Tell me about your time in Florida.
Florida was an interesting time for me, I was just learning where I wanted my artistic voice to go. It was actually while I was in undergraduate school in Florida on one of my trips to Colombia, that I saw that my grandfather had made a couple of small paintings on a type of board. My grandfather did not go to college, he educated himself by reading. One of the paintings he made there was a beautiful landscape and there were a couple of pieces where he had poured drops of paint to cover the board. I asked my grandfather why he had done this painting in this way and he said because he didn't want to paint like anyone else. And this is what made abstraction relevant to me and that’s when I started pouring paint. So you could say that Florida via my grandfather, was the beginning of my journey. Of course I also had a great team of teachers who I was very fortunate to work with as I began developing my process.
And San Francisco was after that?
I went straight to graduate school in San Francisco from Florida. San Fransisco was actually affordable at this point because the dot-com boom had crashed and it was a great time to be there. Sadly during my first year in graduate school my grandfather passed away, so he never got to see what an influence he was on my artistic career.
Omar Chacon, (not yet titled), 7.25 x 1`1.5”, acrylic on canvas, 2025
I’m sorry to hear that.
Ok, tell me about the meaning behind these incredibly delicious works!
Hahaha delicious! Thank you! Well the process of pouring paint was inspired by my grandfather, so I did not know about the colourfield painters when I was starting out or even much about Jackson Pollock. This connection with my blood felt very natural and not appropriation without a base, if that makes sense.
I used the bright colours because to me they represented this overwhelmingly stimulating feeling that I felt from the nature of our consumerist culture. I was even working with neon colours at the beginning, as a way to almost disrupt colour harmonies.
As I developed my process the striped paintings came from my being inspired by the flags of the world. I started to decode all the flags and then united the flags as a whole with colour systems that added a “global community” feel to the works, at least it did in my head.
As time went by, the paintings started to become about the masses and agglomerations of people and communities. The patterns throughout my work have also been influenced a lot by Colombias indigenous cultures, so I would look at my paintings as my way of weaving cultures together.
And now, these days, they have become more about embracing the marginalised of society which I communicate with the use of different colours. Colours have value and meaning in a similar way that the various people within a society do, so I like to use that as a sort of parallel. As for the meaning for the viewer, abstraction is open to all meanings and it’s universal so I can’t say, but these are just some of the things that have inspired me in my work over the years.
What's the process?
Well, to keep it simple, I mix my paint with the mediums needed to get the paint where I want it, then pour it on a separate surface, let it dry, peel it off, and adhere it to the canvas. I guess I would call it making pre-made brush marks or you could see it as almost like making a mosaic. There is a sculpture-like quality to my work and I think this is what has kept the process interesting to me all these years. It is this merge of painting and sculpture that has kept the process interesting and joyful for me. But I have kept my work on canvas to keep that dialogue with art history that I oh-so-much love! I love looking at older paintings way more than contemporary art, yet my aesthetic is very contemporary…and delicious apparently. But new ideas are brewing so we shall see how delicious they stay! Ha!
They look like they would be wonderfully messy in the process, how messy are we talking?
Think of it as similar to when you cook and bake, so yes, it absolutely can get messy. But with care, one can control some aspects of the mess. Admittedly lots of my clothing has paint on it! Hah!
Some of Omar’s supplies in his studio
And how long do these take?!
The time factor really varies on each piece but I would say an average range of completing a work could be anywhere between a week and a month. It all depends on whether the paint is mixed and poured and on the size of the painting.
Does your identity as a Colombian and an American come through in your work?
Colombia has always been a big part in my work. I am inspired by Colombia’s colours. I am also inspired by patterns from indigenous cultures as my father was born in the Jungle area of Colombia, so as a child all this infiltrated me subconsciously. I draw inspiration from the political turmoil of the country, and many many more things that make Colombia Colombia.
Then there’s the USA, which was always the dream for so many Latin Americans and still is today, but the disenchantment that exists on many social issues is no different to Colombia really. The exploitation of resources and communities is all the same story.
Do you identify more as Colombian or American now?
I love Colombia, I love the USA. And the only business card I have had in my life, has my phone number, my email address, and the title “Resident of the world”! I still hold to that thought from 21 years ago.
What was your first big break as an artist?
Hmmm this is an interesting question to answer because I could say my first break as an artist was my deciding to be an artist! I feel I’ve had so many big breaks. The people I was able to study with was a beautiful experience, my journey into colour and art history as well. Being accepted into art school was a big break and getting the merit scholarship at The San Francisco Art Institute was also huge. I don't want to list awards I have gotten as big breaks (there are some but not that many, ha!) or my gallery representation. I guess I would say that the first painting I ever sold was a big break for me, I remember feeling so good knowing that this was possible. I remember the painting and I was working with a gallery in San Francisco and it was to a couple whom I never met, but this to me was a huge break! Being able to make a painting and the ability to be creative in my day to day is a constant big break!
What's it like being represented by a gallery? Is it a lot of support or is it hard to manage alongside doing your practice? You're represented by just MTProjects or other galleries as well?
Unfortunately Margaret Thatcher Project closed its doors in December.
Omar and Margaret Thatcher at Margaret Thatcher Project
Oh wow, this is news to me. How sad!
This was a big blow yes, not so much from the business aspect but because it was like a family there. I met so many incredible artists at that gallery and I would always call Margaret my art Mom. Her closing her doors really is an end of an era in the New York City art world. She was like a rare unicorn and her vision was a beautiful one. I think she is not done yet so we will have to wait a bit and see.
Luckily I have representation in Denver with Robischon Gallery and they are also incredible people. Also I am working with a beautiful gallery in Austria Brunnhofer Galerie and he is also great! I have been incredibly fortunate with the galleries I have worked with that have since closed including San Francisco Fouladi Projects, Milan Magrorocca Galeria, all incredible human beings and still good friends. For me the human element is incredibly important and all my gallerists have had that. So in answer to your question, it has been incredible support to have good kind people as gallerists.
An exhibition of Omar’s work at Robischon Gallery in Denver 2022-2023
How does it all work?
How it works, well it just does. There is no one equation on how to get a gallery, it could be connections to just being in the right place at the right time or maybe being at the wrong place at the right time. The most important thing is to make the best work you can, everything else will fall into place. Nowadays with social media, artists are their own gallery. I should probably get on social media...never been part of it!
Oh gosh no, you’re so lucky you don’t have to!
Do you travel around a lot? How much time do you get in the studio?
I do travel lots, mainly to visit my family in Colombia, Mexico and Florida. But also the occasional Europe trip. I used to travel more to Europe when I worked with a gallery in Milan. For example I had to go to Austria last year to drop some paintings off in Linz. But yea, back in the day I would go to every art fair I participated in and that was lots of fun. I work from home so I get as much time in the studio as I can and this lets me take my trips when I want. So for example, in March I usually go to the Colombian Jungle, the Putumayo region where my father is from, and in April I go visit my parents in Bucaramanga Colombia. Because of this, I had to make the most of February in the studio and this year it has been very busy so I have been fortunate.
Inside Omar’s studio
That sounds incredible, what a dream.
And do you do more commissions or regular works of your own at the moment?
What a relevant question for me right now. So I tend to do more regular works of my own but at the moment I have had commissions rolling in and that has been my main focus lately. I actually have just finished a commission of 8 paintings and I am starting another one as we speak. But I have also been experimenting in the studio so luckily I am getting it all in. You have to be strategic when you work from home and travel a lot.
What's the most valuable piece you've sold to date? Is that something I can ask??
Haha you can totally ask that question, but it’s a subject I personally don't like to disclose. I will say this, the most expensive piece I ever sold was a commission.
Fair enough, though for our readers I have to say, Omar’s works are listed for $20,000 on Artsy!
Haha
Do you have avid collectors who stick with you and follow your new work?
Close up of a work inside Omar’s studio: Taksim to the Maxim, acrylic on canvas, 2024
I do have collectors that stick with me and follow my new work, yes. These people have become good friends and that’s why there are not many of them. I have had collectors in the past who have stuck with me and followed my work but time passes and things change and you feel like they are gone and then suddenly 8 years later an old collector pops back up again. It's interesting and I have never really thought about it much, so thank you for asking this question. Really my main focus has been to make the best paintings I can.
Being an artist is a real journey, can you tell me about your journey?
Ohhh and an emotional journey it sure is, as all artists know! It’s an up and down never-ending journey of self discovery. My process and concept have guided me all these years and the key to it all is just to keep on working and to be appreciative that you can create. Sales or not, you keep trekking along!
Never-been-seen-before sketches by Omar. Istanbul, marker and coloured pencils on paper, 4 x 7”, 2024.
Any advice for your younger self?
I would say, the hardest thing for an artist who is starting out is to just keep making the work and not get discouraged. I would say work work work and be gentle with yourself. Keep to your purpose remembering why you started doing what you do and it will all fall together eventually, but that is why you must always work and keep working...there is no retirement from art and creativity. Also never throw any of your fellow artist colleagues under the bus for self benefit or for self gain, it all comes back around, have solidarity because we are all in it together! Not that I have! That’s just a general piece of advice haha.
Do you ever just want to do something totally different in your art? How do you balance that sense of trying something new and sticking to what you are known for?
Perfect question Courtney! I do sometimes want to do something totally different and that is why you experiment. I have been fortunate with my process and have been able to experiment lots. I am an abstract painter but I have started doing some random still life drawings and landscapes when I travel now. This is something I have never done before, it was a challenge I put to myself and I am loving these drawings. No one has seen them and perhaps I’ll share one with you for this post (see image on the right). Also I have lots of leftovers from my paint process and have stared experimenting with flower paintings so I try new things all the time whilst doing what my process tells me to do in my every day painting ritual...does that make sense? I guess what I am trying to say is, never be scared to try something new even if you don't stick with it, because it will inform, whether you know it or not, what you are currently working on!
What’s next for Omar Chacon?
That’s a tough question. I want to be painting and have the energy to keep going a la Leon Golub! As for people appropriating my work, there are many clones out there already. I guess my goal is to keep the human element alive, especially these days with so much AI. The human touch is very important to me for my work and who I work with. People’s thoughts on my work is up to them, I just know that I strive for it to come from the heart, and anything made with love is a win for all of us!
Inspired to collect some art? Take a browse of Bae’s newest works in oil on canvas.