The French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry immortalized in his work “The little Prince” the phrase: “What is essential is invisible to the eye”, and precisely, that essence of life, is what became visible to Ernesto Rojas the day he decided to use his artistic skills to earn a living.
“This project is more than nine years old. He was born in Venezuela for the same concerns that one had, suddenly we began to paint because we liked it”, says Ernesto Rojas Téllez.
Palettes of colors, brushes and emblematic characters are part of his “ComplementTwoArt” project, an undertaking full of watercolors that proposes a particular way of giving value to the Bolívar, the official currency of his native Venezuela.
“Really there in Venezuela in 2018 people literally threw the coin on the floor; then walking and finding those coins, the value they suddenly have, well, the attachment that one has is emotional. I would pick it up and take it home and store it”, says the artist about the beginnings of his project.
The pain that the loss of these banknotes has meant for many Venezuelans has given inspiration to Ernesto, who seeks to set up an art collective with his colleagues from the center of Bogotá so that artisans, amateurs or career painters can give them a more symbolic use. , representative and emotional to his artistic works.
“It was born as the idea of making a collective where, in a certain way, not only the visualization of sharing, the sharing of this knowledge, that suddenly to prepare the fabrics, materials are used, these are the proportions, those little things one does not know , but it is better that someone with experience tell him”, explains the artist.
But Ernesto does not work alone. His idea was joined by Juan Carlos Alomy Acuero, a Colombian who firmly believes that fate had in store for them to work together for art.
“For me, art today is what feeds me, what meets my needs and to be able to show my feelings, to be able to show what many times they have not been able to say, so in each ticket, in each work, in each representation that I do, I try to leave the heart so that whoever takes it, not only takes a piece of cardboard or a piece of canvas, but also takes the heart that is in that painting, “explains Juan Carlos.
An activity that today gives them daily sustenance and gives free rein to the imagination. They have in common with the character of “The little Prince” the possibility of traveling with your mind through universes of colors, shapes and memories.
“We have characters from the United States who are icons of that struggle: the teacher Luther King, Obama, Nelson Mandela in Africa. Singers like Edith Piaf, movie characters like Disney, characters from Colombian fighters. We have different themes, we have played different themes for various tastes”, says Ernesto.
Tourists stop to watch in amazement the transformation of the devalued currency and applaud the idea to take advantage of that piece of paper. “It’s very nice, they seem super creative to me and I think it’s very nice that you who are experiencing strong needs, can express that in those bills,” says Aleida Gordillo.
Using the devalued Venezuelan Bolívar as raw material, wallets, belts and even jewelry are born, giving a second chance to a bill that lost commercial value, but that arouses emotions.
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