This supplement gathers texts crucial to understanding the life and work of Fabián Rendón Tobón (1953-2000).
A printmaker, Fabián Rendón Tobón studied art at the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín. He was an active participant in salons in Colombia and international biennials. He did illustrations for publications including Revista Universidad de Antioquia and El Espectador,and published three artist’s books: Del Lunario circense (1991), Cuaderno de mapas [Notebook of Maps] with poems by Juan Manuel Roca (awarded at the 1993 edition of the San Juan Print Biennial (Puerto Rico)), and De lo racional y lo razonable (1997) with texts by William Ospina.
Rendón Tobón specialized in “Picasso method” linocuts, the technique by which he tirelessly produced multiple editions of linoleum works that display a striking mastery of technique. The images are suggestive of fantastic and mythological creatures, and imaginary spaces are evoked by means of colors and textures. His work does not foreclose accidents or unplanned encounters between the ink and the matrix. In the words of poet Juan Manuel Roca, Rendón Tobón’s work provided him with “a way to record the impressions of his steps, the marks of his vision.”