Rene Gonzalez is a London based artist of Latino background who was born in Montreal Canada, started as a graffiti artist for many years in Costa Rica before moving to the UK in 2012 to undertake a BA in Fine Art Painting at City & Guilds of London Art School.
Rene paints scenes with dream-like natural landscapes, that often feature animal or human characters that guide us through forests, open landscapes or ambiguous bursts of trees and greenery with hints of manmade architecture against dramatic, eerie skies. These compositions take inspiration from tropical forests, European woodlands up to the snowy taiga of the northern hemisphere, but always vibrant with a mystical other-worldly feel, evoking the magical and wonder found in our natural environment, as well as the occasional reference to structures from cities the artist has lived in.
Having resided in different countries, Rene’s works make reference to these different lands, as well as to classical painting, folklore from various cultures and popular literature, depicting creatures, objects and spaces with ambiguous, romantic characteristics. Foxes, deer and felines have become especially prevalent in the artist’s work moving to London to be a fine art oriented painter. The fox is an iconic, misunderstood figure associated with British city life. Deer are associated with royalty and London suburban or even the country side. And Felines are wild tropical animals.
Rene has exhibited in solo and group shows in galleries and art events across the UK, Europe and America, including collaborations with the Messums Gallery, The Great Western Studios, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Auc Art, The Auction Collective and The Arcs Cotswolds.
He was awarded first place in the Clyde & Co Blank Canvas Art Prize 2015, creating a twenty meter painting for the competition. In 2019 he produced a mural displayed in the area of Seven Dials as a tribute to the legendary junction and has created unique artworks for entities such House of Vans, Clarks, New Platform Art and the NBA London. Rene’s work has been featured in articles and magazines such as Art Maze Mag, i-D Vice, Luxe Magazine, Fad Magazine and Dateagle Art.