Bio
Francisco Salazar was born in 1937 in Quiriquire, Monagas State, Venezuela. In 1954 he entered the School of Plastic and Applied Arts "Cristóbal Rojas" of Caracas, where he took courses in: drawing, painting, sculpture, mural, stained glass and engraving, among others. His professors were Alejandro Otero, Ramón Vásquez Brito, Mateo Manaure and Carlos González Bogen; Francisco Narváez was the director.
In 1967 he made an individual exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Caracas, where he is represented. This same year he travels to France with a scholarship to participate in the V Biennial of Young Artists of Paris where he obtains the First Prize; since then he lives in Paris, where he continues his research in the field of optical painting. He is awarded the "Armando Reverón" Prize at the Venezuelan Art Salon of the Museum of Fine Arts of Caracas; He is also recognized with the "Enrique Otero Viscarrondo" Award at the Venezuelan Art Salon.
In 1980 he made an individual exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Caracas. On this occasion Alfredo Boulton writes: "Salazar produces art, partly due to his very fine craftsmanship, and due to his mastery of an industrial matter - prosaic - ennobling it through plastic expression as if it were marble, wood or bronze. It ennobles the vulgar medium and turns it into a language of purest artistic affirmation, through a highly polished technical process."
On 2007, "Francisco Salazar, The Game of Light and Space" is held at the Acarigua-Araure Art Museum, in recognition of his 50 years of artistic work and in celebration of his 70 years of life.
Individual exhibits
1958 Galería Espiral, Escuela Cristóbal Rojas.
1963 "Ensamblajes y pinturas", Galería G, Caracas.
1966 "Positivo-negativo", CVA.
1967 "36 positivos-negativos", MBA.
1975 Denise René Gallery, Paris.
1976 Arte/Contacto Gallery, Caracas / Soto Museum / Graphic/CB2 Gallery, Caracas / Groupement Francais D'Enterprises, Pretabail, Paris.
1978 Galerie D'Expression D'Art Visuel, Caen, France / Concorde Gallery, Paris / Venezuelan Embassy, Paris.
1979 "Espacio blanco", MACC.
1981 "Espacio blanco", Francisco Narváez Museum.
1982 Óscar Ascanio Gallery, Caracas.
1983 "Espacio vacío", Óscar Ascanio Gallery, Caracas / Expressions Gallery, Miami, Florida, USA.
1990 "Estructuras puras", Espacio Simonetti, Valencia, Carabobo.
Awards
1967 Armando Reverón Award, XXVIII Salón Oficial / Henrique Otero Vizcarrondo Award, XXVIII Salón Oficial / José Loreto Arismendi Award, XXVIII Salón Oficial / Andrés Pérez Mujica Award, XXV Salón Arturo Michelena / First Prize, V Paris Biennale.
1968 First Prize, Codex Biennale, Buenos Aires.
1969 Second Prize, Coltejer Biennale, Medellín, Colombia.
Collections
Ateneo de Valencia, Carabobo / Cisneros Collection, Caracas / GAN / MACCSI / Modern Art Museum City of Paris / Modern Art Museum, Medellín, Colombia / Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires / Soto Museum.