Alirio Oramas, one of the pioneer abstract painter in Venezuela, was born in 1924, Caracas, Venezuela. Awarded 1951 Venezuelan National Prize ( XXI Official SAlon) for the Fine Arts.
Oramas’s father was a prominent scientist and anthropologist Luis Ramon Oramas Rivero, he assisted his father drawing and illustrating his books and articles.
His work includes colorful abstract paintings, drawings, collages, murals, objects, installations and performances. Many of his works have been successfully sold at auctions and galleries in Caracas and Internationally.
Studies
1943-1945 National School of Fine Arts, Caracas
1951-1952 Academie de la Grande Caumiere, Paris, France
1952-1953 Atellier of Art Abstract Dewasne et Pillet, Paris, France
Biographical Highlights
1948-1951 Director of the ” Taller libre de arte” (The Free Art Workshop, an avant garde school of art)
Meets the Cuban intellectuals in exile in Venezuela, Alejo Carpenter, Antonio Gomez-scre and Rafael Lopes-Pedraza.
1951-1952 Wins The Venezuelan National Prize ( XXI Salon official) for Fine Arts, Caracas, the highest award for the art. Invited by the US State Department’s Cultural Affairs Council to have exhibit his work at the Embassy and visit United States. Oramas visit NewYork, NY. Travels to Paris where he visits Braque and Breton, shares rooms with Sam Francis and Antonio Fonseca in the Hotel de Saine.
1952-1955 Studied at the Atelier d’Art Abstract Dewasne et Pillet in Paris.Travel Throughout Europe. Attend a Museography and conservation in the Ecole du Louvre in Paris with the professor Georges-Henri Riviere who know the archaeologist Paul Rivet founder of The Musee du L’homme, anthropologist Museum in Paris. Rivet was close friend Oramas father and inspire him to continue studding Art and Museography.
Travel to Spain, practices archaeology for the Archaeological Museum of Barcelona. Visit Miro and meets the young Catalan painters, Tapies, Cuixart, Canogar and Guinoart with whom he paints and exhibits.
1956 Oramas was commissioned by Venezuelan leading architect Carlos Raul Villanueva, along with Calder,Jean Arp, Vasarelli, Herbin, Soto, Cruz Diez, Oswaldo Vigas and others, to create mosaic murals for the University of Venezuela in Caracas. Today is considered a master piece of urban planning and was declared a world Heritage site by UNESCO in 2000.
1955 Alirio Oramas married Lucila Maza Zavala, (artist too) in Paris.Was born his son Sandro in Barcelona, Spain.
1959-1963 Moves to and resides in Rome, Italy. Takes part in the Italian avant gard “informalist” Movement. Visits De Chirico and meets Alberto Burri, Mario Manucci, Lucio Fontana, Giulio Turcato and Antonio Cardazo, they inspire and help Oramas in the process to change from the abstractionism to the Informalism and some collages. Represents Venezuela at the Venice Bienal.
Alirio Oramas 