ABOUT ORLANDO VILLATORO

Currently pursuing a master’s degree in game design, Salvadorian artist Orlando Villatoro encounters what he perceives as “glitches” constantly, both in the digital world and IRL (in real life). Glitches to him are occurrences of beauty, collisions
within ourselves that define us as individuals. In his paintings, Villatoro collides hundreds of years of art and pop, layering them together in interesting and unexpected ways. To him, it is all a reflection of the nature of being human.

ABOUT XHE

Xhe graduated in Graphic Arts from the University of El Salvador and has since then been recognized as one of the most up-and-coming painters in Central America. In 2019 Xhe received an honorable mention at the prestigious SUMARTE exhibition as well as participated in the traveling exhibition El Prado. Xhe has also exhibited at the XXI International Art Festival and at the Drawing Biennial curated by Walterio Iraheta, at the El Salvador Museum of Art.

She often collaborates with fellow graphic artist Orlando Villatoro on multilayered works that are both dimensional and incorporate elements of mural painting.

ARTIST STATEMENT // NEW GODS

As a concept, the work revolves around the new gods series where a symbol that in our time is present in the minds of people is presented in the background. The “Gucci wall,” takes a sacred step and becomes omnipresent, the next is the canvas representing the peak of the human being, rebirth, and the third is the glass that is also painted representing cell phone screens, new media, the new world of images and icons.