Mariano Prado Vargas

Mariano Prado is a natural and original artist. He was born in San José on January 6, 1953.     

As an artist, he has experimented with different techniques throughout his extensive artistic career, including acrylic, watercolor, inks, etc. He is considered a pioneer of digital art in Costa Rica, incorporating advanced 3D image generation programs into his works.  

Currently retired, he has been able to fully dedicate himself to creating his mature masterpiece. In a personal effort to promote his artistic work, he has contacted the Virtual Gallery "Visualis Gallery" and several online platforms such as Agregarte.com and Artelista.com, Facebook, among others.    

 

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

Mariano Prado holds a Bachelor's degree in Plastic Arts from the University of Costa Rica and was a drawing professor for over 30 years at this institution. He was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus at the University of Costa Rica in 2004.  

He is currently an active member of Mondial Art Academia (France), affiliated with the Costa Rican Association of Visual Artists (ACAV), and incorporated into the National Association of Costa Rican Sculptors (ANESCO).

He is an active member and co-founder of the Chromatic Stereometrism Movement, launched on January 10, 2025, at the National Library.

 

Contributions with his innovative technique

Mariano Prado is an artist who, like many others, has experimented with various techniques; however, his desire to create something different led him to discover, approximately 40 years ago, a quite novel technique at the time: "Digital Art."

He works with a computer and advanced 2D and 3D image generation programs. With these tools, he creates objects that are modified and transformed until achieving representative figures of a character placed in a virtual setting. He is an innovative artist who replaced the traditional brush with the mouse or digital pen.

His commitment to art has always been directed, in some way, towards denunciation and the dissemination of human customs or thoughts. He also addresses social and political criticism of national issues.  

In his works, he expresses the human desire to achieve ideals and goals. Currently, within the Chromatic Stereometrism Movement, he explores a playful work that emphasizes color contrast and image fragmentation in a game of geometric shapes ranging from flat to volumetric, creating shadows by structuring the flat forms of fragmentation along the "z" axis of the image, thus creating a sense of volume.

 

International Participation

He has participated in numerous Biennials and International Competitions, to mention a few:      
International Print Exhibit (Taiwan, 1985)
Second Havana Biennial (Cuba, 1986)
Latin American Painters in Carter Ville (Atlanta, USA, 1986)
V Ibero-American Art Biennial (Mexico, 1986)
Arte Natura (Marseille, France, 2007)
Arte Natura: Museum of Paper and Filigree (Fabriano, Italy, 2007)
Exhibition "4Art 2018 The Grand Palais" (France, 2018)
Rome Art Festival, Piazza della Republica (Rome, 2019)
Chromatic Cultures, International Cultural Fusion (House of Culture, Tunja, Colombia, 2024).
Chromatic Cultures, International Cultural Fusion (Congress of the Republic of Colombia, 2024).

 

Collective Exhibitions

1981- V Latin American Engraving Biennial, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1983- VI Latin American Engraving Biennial, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1983- International Print Exhibit, Taipei, Taiwan 1983- Tico-Panamanian Exhibition, Villa Los Santos, Panama
1985- International Print Exhibit, Taipei, Taiwan 1986- Second Havana Biennial
1986, Cuba 1986- Latin American Painters in Carter Ville, Atlanta, USA
1986- V Ibero-American Art Biennial, Mexico
1987- VIII International Art Biennial, Valparaíso, Chile
1987- Plastic Image of Costa Rica, Magna Gallery, Panama
1988- Four Costa Rican Painters in Jamaica, Life of Jamaica Building Dominica Drive, Jamaica