Mario Toral

From his earliest works, Toral has depicted the human body transmuted, multiplied or transparent in order to talk about communal experiences and limitations. His paintings present the existential uncertainty of the artist and the continuous feeling of precariousness. “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” is a motto that finds its roots in the French Revolution and which became the clarion call for major historical upheavals. Toral revisits this symbol by inserting the word “Internet”, a critical intervention reflecting on social movement participation in the digital age. In this way, his modernistic choreography of marching protesters becomes a repetitive metaphor for the circle of life.

Mario Toral (1934, Chile) is a painter and photographer. He has exhibited worldwide and his work is in the collections of MoMA New York, Brooklyn Museum and the National Museum of Havana. Toral was the Dean of the Arts Faculty at Finis Terrae University. In 2007, he received the medal of honor from the Pablo Neruda Foundation.