George Febres (born ''Jorge Xavier Febres Cordero Icaza''; 10 September 1943, in
Guayaquil
, motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil
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– 1996) was an
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
ian-born painter, internationally acclaimed for his wildly imaginative style and humorous "visual puns." He is especially known for the banana motif which often appeared in his paintings, a visual juxtaposition of the fruit, very common in Ecuador, and a phallic reference. His work was an important part of the dynamic upswing in
visual arts in the late 20th century. George was openly homosexual, he was friends with
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
and other avant-garde artists, possibly the most influential Ecuadorian artist in the United States of the 20th century.
George Febres is credited with starting the art movement called Visionary Imagism in his adopted hometown of New Orleans. His unrestrained and bold imagination and humor won him admirers all over the world. His life in New Orleans was a myriad of roles, from artist to art collector, to curator and gallery owner. This made him a central figure of the artistic renaissance that unfolded in the city in the 1970s. Febres worked with frescoes, mixed media, mosaic, pencil on paper. Although his work showed a strong influence of
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
and
Pop art, he expanded this ideas into Visionary Imagism.
He is now interred in
Saint Louis Cemetery
Saint Louis Cemetery (french: Cimetière Saint-Louis, es, Cementerio de San Luis) is the name of three Catholic cemeteries in New Orleans, Louisiana. Most of the graves are above-ground vaults constructed in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Cemete ...
#1.
References
* Staff of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.
George Febres. In: ''KnowLA Encyclopedia of Louisiana'', edited by David Johnson. Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, 2010–. Article published August 16, 2012.
* Florence, Robert. ''New Orleans Cemeteries: Life in the Cities of the Dead''. Batture Press, New Orleans, Louisiana: 1997. pp 59.
* Augusto Rodríguez, Ivo Huahua L.
', Buseta de Papel blog, 12 May 2006 .
* George Febres
Spanish translation of introduction to catalogue for the exhibition ''My Cousin the Saint'', Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, 1982 (a collective exhibition organized by Febres with works surrounding his ''cousin''/ancestor Saint (Brother)
Miguel Febres Cordero
Francisco Luis Febres-Cordero y Muñoz (7 November 1854 – 9 February 1910), known as (later Saint) Miguel Febres Cordero and Brother Miguel, was an Ecuadorian Roman Catholic religious brother. He became a professed member of the Brothers of th ...
Ecuadorian artists
1943 births
1996 deaths
Ecuadorian gay men
Ecuadorian LGBT artists
20th-century Ecuadorian LGBT people
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