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This content was published on 02 December 2021 - 20:15

(Updated with statements to Efe by the director of Art Miami about Andrés Valencia)

Miami, Dec 2 (EFE) .- The Californian painter Andrés Valencia, only 10 years old, is attracting attention at this Art Week in Miami with his works, which he has practically sold in its entirety and one of them to the actress Sofia Vergara.

"I think there is no longer one left to sell," Nick Korniloff, executive director of Art Miami, one of the so-called "satellites" of Art Basel Miami Beach, the "queen" of Miami Art Week, told Efe. of Miami).

Korniloff tells Efe that when he was organizing this year's fair, the first since the stoppage forced by the pandemic, he found that the Chase Contemporary gallery included Andrés Valencia in his proposal.

"When I saw the photos and videos I was totally shocked, it couldn't be real that those paintings were of such a young child," he says.

The executive director of Art Miami recalls that his obligation is to ensure that "the quality of the exhibited works is high and that the artists are respected", to later underline that Andrés Valencia's production perfectly meets these requirements.

Korniloff uses words like "extraordinary", "prodigy" and "unique" to refer to the art of this child painter from San Diego (California) and when asked what Andrés is like, he replied: "He is a normal child, a beautiful child, with great personality and creativity.

A part of the profits that correspond to Art Miami from the sales of Andrés' works will go to a foundation created in the name of a son of Korniloff who disappeared at sea when he was 15 years old, according to the executive director told Efe .

Although the Chase Contemporary gallery organized a major exhibition of Valencian art two weeks ago in New York, "these days are the most important" for him as an artist, he adds.

The child prodigy has been interviewed by television channels at the Art Miami fairgrounds and media outlets such as The Miami Herald have dedicated prominent articles to him.

This last medium indicates that one day Andrés Valencia, who lives with his family in San Diego (California), saw a film about the late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and told his father: "I can do it too" .

A journalist from channel NBC 6 who has interviewed the boy painter at the fair, Andrés has commented that since he was very young he has liked to draw and that one day he decided to copy a painting that was in his house and he liked it a lot.

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He dedicated himself to drawing it over and over again to perfect his technique, according to this child prodigy who painted his first painting at age 5 and admires Picasso and Basquiat, whom he pays homage to in one of the paintings he brought to Miami.

Andrés's father, Guadalupe Valencia, is a lawyer and his mother, Elsa, is a jewelry designer, according to the Miami newspaper.

A biography of the boy is included on the Chase Contemporary website, mentioning that he was born in 2011 and his art is influenced by George Condo, his favorite painter, Picasso and cubism, among others.

SELF TEACHED AND TALENTED

According to this text, the boy uses a ladder and a mixture of oil and acrylic to create works of great size, vivid colors and human figures with fragmented faces.

His teachers in the Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) program at the public school he attends in San Diego noticed Andres' talent right away.

At home, the boy began to copy some of the works of art that his father collects and now works daily in a home studio, but he also often watches videos about art and artists to complete his training.

Ideas for his plays usually come to him when he goes to sleep and sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night to start them. He normally completes them in four days, says the text, noting that Andrés is looking forward to going to the Louvre Museum in Paris to see Leonardo da Vinci's famous Gioconda or Mona Lisa.

Colombian actress Sofía Vergara has already bought a painting from Valencia and celebrities such as actor Channing Tatum and various artists have visited the Chase Contemporary space to meet the child painter and his works.

Korniloff points out that the Miami Art Week 2021 edition is being a success.

"The city is a focus of bright light after covid-19," underlines the director of a fair that in its 31st edition presents proposals from more than 140 galleries from 17 countries. EFE

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