Art is not democratic but republican. Moreover, this field is an excellent model for understanding the meaning of both terms. If it were a democracy, the opinion of the majority would have to be important and prevailing, the best works would be those that are liked by more people and occupy privileged places in more museums, in many anthologies and, what is definitely, in people’s opinion. But it can’t be like that, it’s a republican space where we can all express ourselves, even if we don’t share the dominant taste. Nor is it accepted that art is sacred, about which critics and curators would be the only “informed” people with the right word. So, without thinking that I’m making a prophetic announcement, but with the right of an ordinary citizen, I can say that I consider the art of Fernando Boter, God willing, to be monotonous and superficial.

Caricature of the object is predominant in Boter’s works. He deforms the figures by exaggerating their features, in order to depict an obese humanity in which the characters are recognizable only by their features and clothing. But it is not a caricature, because it is an art form in itself, an essential component of which is the appeal to humor. No matter how tragic or overwhelming the subject, look for laughter, joy. Caricature is not limited to journalistic caricatures, we can consider that Cervantes’ Don Quixote and Mozart’s Don Juan are caricatures, witty exaggerations of their characters. Something similar can be said about many of Goya’s works, I mean The Family of Charles IV, in which the king and his relatives seem to be covered with a plebeian patina that makes them anything but royal. In the art of the late Colombian painter, caricature is an escape from the existential demands of the artistic. There is no irony or questioning of reality, we are faced with a flat picture that is looking for a good reception.

Boter’s world in its full sincerity seems calm and satisfied, even in the pictures that show violent scenes of murders and massacres, the protagonists are chubby, expressionless dolls that do not make you sad or afraid. The tremendous commercial success of his work should be thanks to this very thing, they are peaceful and calm series, with which you can live in any environment, since they do not offend or question, it is as if nothing serious ever happens in them. In color, he referred to his obvious knowledge of classical art, but this tool sterilized his painting, so it cannot be said that he was a particularly innovative colorist. And in his sculptures we find the same serialization, in which, due to the lack of subject matter, he opted for excess. If this style, in the talented painter that he was, had been limited, say, to one period of his artistic career, it would have seemed interesting and purposeful, but he was carried away by its very happy reception and remained there without showing any versatility or evolution. Fernando Botero died, it is the moment we have to let his work speak, which will justify him or not before the supreme judge, time. (OR)