‘I stayed true to painting, I never broke the law’: Federico Gonzebach celebrates 50 years of career with an exhibition that goes through his five artistic stages

Frederick Gonzebach He confirms that during his 50-year career he painted 15,000 paintings and held 400 national and international exhibitions. The first time he participated in an exhibition, he was only 16 years old and still a student at the School of Fine Arts. “I have remained faithful to painting, I have never broken the law, I have always been on the edge of art”he confirms in an interview with this newspaper.

Celebrate your dedication and passion for art with the show Gonzebach, testimony, in the House of Culture, core of Guayas.

Federico Gonzenbach, an artist in love with Guayaquil

Through a selection of 49 works, the exhibition takes a tour through the five stages of his artistic life: the first phase with pen drawing, the second phase with impressionistic painting, the third phase with a neurofigurative figure, the fourth phase with sacred art and the fifth phase with abstract art. “I have selected the best for this exhibition…”there stands that.

“They say that man changes or dies, if I have painted I think I have changed at every stage and looked for new things, but always kept the same line. The line of philosophy of painting, composition, symmetry”, account.

What has kept him faithful to the art all this time is his discipline and passion. “I am not cerebral, I was born emotional”, emphatically.

He mentions that his inspiration was born in extreme places, for example he went with his donkey to the Panecillo in Quito, to Salinas at the foot of the sea, he also likes to paint at the foot of a lake, a tree or a mountain. “Most of my inspiration has been for the Guayas River… I listened to the sound of this river… When I start painting I am inspired by a cup of coffee, I am inspired by good music, I connect with intuition”says the man who was born in the Las Peñas neighborhood.

“When carefully observing Gonzenbach’s work, it shows testimonials that evoke names such as the brothers Luis and Hugo Lara, Antonio del Campo, Luis Wallpher, Ricardo Florsheim, Pepe Luque, Roura Oxandaberro, Jaime Villa, Rendón Seminario, Carlos Catasse, and. .. how not to be? If they were their neighbors with whom they shared experiences, saw them working in their respective workshops and also saw them exhibiting at the Julian and October festivities, a street decorated with visiting and resident artists,” describes Abdon Calderoncurator and coordinator of the exhibition.

The exhibition Gonzebach, testimony was inaugurated yesterday in the Manuel Rendón seminar room, of the House of Culture, core of Guayas. The exhibition is open to the public until August 11. Free entrance.