Felipe Mercadal

I was born in Valparaiso, Chile. I studied drawing and painting at the School of Fine Arts of the town council of Viña del Mar, while I also took some courses at the School of Philosophy, Universidad de Chile. I later studied architecture, were i obtained a degree with honours in 1976.
In 1973 I sent my art work to the Jacques-Henri Perrin Gallery in Paris and recieved publications offers in the "young foreign artists" collection, editions de la tete de feuilles.
In 1972 and 1973 I undertook the post of cultural adviser for the Instituto Chileno Frances de Cultura in Valparaiso.
In 1978-1979 I performed various shows in the U.S.A, California: in the Village Gallery of Sacramento; in the Arts Works Galleries of Fair Oaks; in the Uno Gallery in San Jose University; in the Atelier Gallery of Half Moon Bay…among others places... at the same time, I showed in Valparaiso and Viña del Mar the first part of my series "certain lights of my city".
Between 1992 and 1994, I was head of the Art and Culture Department for the Viña del Mar City Hall. among the activities that took place I can account for bringing exhibits of Picasso, Goya and other world known artists.
Since 1994, I have been full time professor at the School of Fine Arts of the town council at Viña del Mar. in that year, together with two muralists, master painter Oswaldo Guayasamin entrusted us with the execution of a mural in Viña del Mar.
In 1997, I illustrated a deluxe edition of the book "Azul" by Ruben Dario, which was recognized under the patronage of the Chilean Ministry of Education.
Following are expositions of more importance, like in the campus of the Valparaiso university, in the Cultural Institute of Las Condes Santiago, in the National Congress of Chile, in the Museum of Fine Arts of Viña del Mar. In September 1998 I perfomed an individual show in the main room of the American States Organization OAE in Washington D.C.
On January 2005, I received the Regional Prize of the Circle of Chilean Art Critics.
On April 2005, the regional government distinguished me as a Cultural Ambassador for my international artistic activities abroad.


Exhibitions:

- In Chile:
Congreso Nacional de Chile (2004)
Museo de Bellas Artes de Viña del Mar (2002)
Sala El Farol, Universidad de Valparaiso (1997)
Instituto Cultural de las Condes, Santiago (1996)
Congreso Nacional de Chile (1995) colectiva
Instituto Chileno-Norteamericano de Cultura, Valparaiso (1993)
Museo de Bellas Artes, Viña del Mar (1993) colectiva
Instituto Chileno-Aleman de Cultura, Viña del Mar (1991)
Instituto Chileno- Frances de Cultura, Valparaiso (1972)
- In USA:
Organization of American States, O.A.S., Washington D.C. (1998)
Gallery One, University of San Jose, California (1990)
The Art Works Gallery, Fair Oaks, California (1979)
Gallery Atelier, Half Moon Bay, California (1979)
Village Gallery, Sacramento, California (1978)
College of San Mateo, San Mateo, California (1977)
- In Spain:
Monasterio de Santa Maria de la Rabida
Palos de la Frontera, Andalucia (2004)
Galeria Estudio Fuentes, Madrid (2001)
- In Germany:
Chilean Embassy in Germany (Berlin) (2006) to come.


Statement:

About my painting, my paintings begin as telling a story; a story based on some observations that transcend the literal description of things ... it's like removing the veil of a part of reality to get something innovative…
My stories speak of light, of its reflections, its transparencies, its colour, its changes… in that way, I observe that some reflections conceal the colour, or that colour sometimes transit vertiginously upon the bay; at moments they impregnate it, sometimes I take the same scene at different hours… it occurs that Valparaiso's bay never has the same colour...
After all, I keep believing that the painter thinks with his eye, obviously in an always modern way, ... to paint is to notice.
There are also other readings: there are metaphors, that leave a very wide margin, where I suggest other worlds through the reality of dreams. indeed, sometimes ships come to be part of the hills, or they blend at a distance; sometimes they are born from them in a reverie and luminous birth… in others they become people too.
All of this according to my will of reflecting the spirit of time: for this I have symbolic and thematic elements… in essence, it's about achieving an harmonious atmosphere with the dominant feelings of loneliness and abandonment... and that peace that remains beyond the end of things…