Golden Years Series Exhibition
I recently exhibited seven portraits from the Golden Years series in a venue in Islington Square, London, in June to coincide with Father’s Day weekend to honour the family unit as many have been hard-hit by the pandemic.
Golden Years aims to portray the over-60s population with dignity and respect, as well as celebrate their lives and accomplishments. The project, which had been bubbling away under the surface for a number of years, suddenly came to life with the loss of my grandmother – and many other vulnerable seniors – to Covid-19. The series includes a portrait of my grandmother, called Stairway to Heaven. The other six portraits are painted in vibrant colours in recognition of their continuing contribution to society.
iThe exhibition was a sucess the start of building a network of locals that showed interest in taking part on volunteering and want to help bridge the isolation that community experience.
Throughout my photojournalism and art work, I have always striven to highlight the social inequities that are present in all societies and to express the need to challenge these social disparities, whether it be among the younger generation or the over 60s population. Growing up in Colombia and witnessing first-hand the lives of the underprivileged and vulnerable, I am keenly aware that I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity immigrate to the UK and begin a new life. One of the reasons I went to university was to equip myself with the tools to document the plight of the vulnerable.
GREAT NEWS
Dear Julio Cesar Osorio,
On behalf of VAA and our panel of expert judges, we are pleased to inform you that your entry has been shortlisted and will now go through to the third stage of panel judging. Finalists will be announced in September.
Please follow this link to view your artwork and the other Shortlisted Artists on our website:
https://visual-artists.org/PAA23-Shortlist/
Congratulations and thank you for applying for The VAA Professional Artist Award 2023!
STATEMENT OF IMPACT
As a social artist, I have deepened my own insights into the vulnerable populations of society beginning in my home country of Colombia. Vulnerability is a topic that I have felt extremely passionate about from a young age while going through a humble childhood. I have had the good fortune of immigrating to the United Kingdom.
I have challenged the viewer with a photography project about the socioeconomic factors of childhood in third world countries. I had traveled for 5 years to document the vulnerable youth. The project had culminated with a photography book that is titled Work Play and No Rest culminating in donations to 2 orphanages (Beautiful Gate in Cape town and the Aldea Orphanage in Abancay, Peru). 5 copies of the book are now in the British Library.
Golden Years art project is a continuation of my prior photographic project of vulnerable youth. I am portraying the other end of the spectrum, namely, the elderly population.
I hope to impact viewers with the vibrancy of my portraits using the medium of paint and convey the need for renewal in society. I believe that my art project can also shift our paradigms and the way that we think about the elderly population. It will honour and celebrate the elderly so that they will have a more visible and dignified standing in our society.