Miguel Betancourt
Miguel Betancourt (born 5 January 1958) is an Ecuadorian contemporary artist living in Quito, Ecuador. He was formed as an artist in Ecuador, the United States, and the United Kingdom. His paintings are a fusion of local cultural motives and colors, and Western artistic influence. Life. Born in Quito, Ecuador in 1958, Betancourt grew up in the outskirts of the city (Cumbayá). In 1974, he initiated art classes with Ecuadorian artist, Oswaldo Moreno. In 1976-1977, he went to study at the Milwaukee Art Center, United States, for a year. Upon his return to Ecuador, he enrolled in  the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador to study Pedagogy and Literature until 1982, while continuing to develop his artistic career. In 1988, he was invited by the Department of State of the US to a Cultural Tour. In the same year, the British Council awarded him a scholarship to study a postgraduate art degree at the Slade School of Fine Art at the University College London. During his time in London, Betancourt befriended British artist John Hoyland. In 1992, he held a traveling exhibition through Europe. Artistic career. In 1993, he was selected to represent his country at the XLV . Venice Biennale, Italy - one of his major career highlights. In the last decade, he was part of various individual and collective exhibitions around the world. In 2000, he exhibited a show at the Canberra Museum and Gallery. Between 2001 and 2003, his paintings went on itinerant shows through Central America. Highlights in the recent past include participation in "Visual Trends in Ecuador´s Contemporary Art" organized by the Corporación Andina de Fomento in Caracas, Venezuela (2004); participation as Invitee of Honor to the "V. International Art Biennial SIART" in La Paz, Bolivia (2007), and in "The Night of the Museums" in  Buenos Aires, Argentina (2009). At the beginning of 2011, Betancourt participated in the "Exhibition of Latin American and Caribbean Artists" in the Tokyo City Hall, organized by the embassies of the Americas. In July 2012, he participated in a collective exhibition "Ecuador Beyond Concepts" at the gallery of the Cervantes Institute in Rome. Then, in September 2013, the Gallery Bandi-Trazos invited him to be part of the Latin-American Pavilion in the International Art Fair, in the Beijing Exhibition Center. In 2014 he was part of a collective exhibition "Ecuador in Focus" (along 2 other Ecuadorian artists), at the  OPEC Fund for International Development headquarters in Vienna. In 2016 he participated in ARTE15 as part of the artistic events to celebrate the conference Habitat III which took place in Quito. Since 2017 his itinerant one-man show has been presented in various cities in Asia: Beijing, Nanjing, Seoul and Tokyo. Finally, since 2018 his artwork has been part of a traveling group show, Imago Mundi, sponsored by the Benetton Foundation and shown in several countries around the world. Betancourt has received recognition, including the Pollock-Krasner Award in 1993, conferred by the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in New York City , United States. Betancourt continues to be involved in various projects and exhibitions in Ecuador and internationally. He is a founding member of movement created in Paris in 2014, with headquarters in the Bateau-Lavoir, Paris. Collections. His art has exhibited in museums and exhibitions, and found part in private collections in Europe and Latin America, including the art collections of the United Nations offices in Vienna and in Geneva (specifically in UNAIDS). Additionally, his artwork can be found in other private collections like: Inter-American Development Bank (Tokio), Diners Club del Ecuador, Istituto Italo-Latino Americano (Rome), Art Museum of  the Americas, OEA (Washington D.C.), OFID (the OPEC Fund for International Development), Vienna, or Slade School of Fine Art (London). Publications. Recently, articles about Betancourt's work have appeared in magazines such as Americas (OAS, Washington DC), Gatopardo (Mexico), Infinite Ecuador (Quito) and Dolce Vita (Quito), among others.