International exhibits for Colombian painter Botero

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Fernando Botero, the Colombian painter known for his deceptively innocuous-looking, metaphor-laden images of gargantuan fruit and pleasantly plump people, is marking his 75th year on the planet in high style.

He’s the subject of exhibitions from Caracas to Munich, including a show at Tasende Gallery, his long-time West Coast dealer. The gallery currently is displaying recent Botero sculptures and works on paper at its West Hollywood and La Jolla venues.

Even though Latin American art has gained wider popularity in recent decades, Botero still is one of the few Latin American artists who commands a true international market, says gallery owner Jose Tasende.

However, there’s one especially controversial side of Botero that you won’t see at Tasende: either of his two recent series of paintings, one depicting murders, kidnappings and other atrocities in his war-scarred homeland, the other a grapic and disturbing catalog of gruesome acts committed at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, pictured here.

Posted by Reed Johnson in Mexico City