The Exhibition That Reimagines the Past from a Global Perspective

“Piruwmanta Dreams”: The Exhibition That Reimagines the Past from a Global Perspective
Peruvian artist Jose Bazo presents a series of paintings that connect his European academic training with Andean iconography at La Rebelde Librería on July 5.

An oil painting can carry centuries of history if the stroke allows it. Jose Bazo, a Peruvian artist based in London, uses this technique to construct images based on the textiles, ceramics, and pre-Columbian symbols of Peru. The result is neither visual archaeology nor a literal replica, but rather a proposal that translates the ancestral into a contemporary language. This is the premise of Piruwmanta Dreams, his most recent solo exhibition, which opens this July 5 at La Rebelde Librería in Lima.

The exhibition brings together works in which figures such as mythological felines, geometric patterns, and textile structures emerge in complex compositions, crafted with academic rigor. Bazo studied figurative painting in Florence, following a Renaissance-style apprenticeship. This influence is no coincidence: “The Inca Empire and the Italian Renaissance are contemporaries. This isn't often mentioned, but it's a historical coincidence that informs much of my work,” says Bazo.

This intersection of times and languages guides the entire proposal. Each work seeks to generate a dialogue between the past and the present, without idealization or nostalgia. “Our culture is not a relic,” Bazo emphasizes, “it is not frozen in time; it is as alive as the artists who are part of it.” Consequently, this coexistence between the Andean and the classical responds not only to a formal search, but to the intention of activating the ancestral legacy as part of the present and within the flow of contemporary creation. "Diario El Comercio. All rights reserved."
Global Art

The title of the exhibition delves into this intersection: Piruwmanta means “from Peru” in Quechua, while Dreams refers to an everyday term in English. It's a combination that reflects the artist's context—trained in Europe, but marked by his Andean origins—and at the same time questions the labels with which Latin American art is often interpreted outside the continent.

"I want Peruvian culture not only to be observed in museums. It can also be found in contemporary galleries, in dialogue with art from different parts of the world," he argues in this proposal, which reflects his time in London, a city that in recent years has begun to open spaces for contemporary Latin American art. "Diario El Comercio. All rights reserved."
In this environment, his series presents an alternative to exoticism: neither folklore nor showcase object. "Original culture is highly romanticized, but there is also a new artistic vision that is telling other stories that place us as part of the global," Bazo emphasizes. His approach is based on a perspective that doesn't seek to fit into commercial molds, but rather to propose from a place of authenticity.

This reinterpretation also extends to materials. Although the references are Andean ceramics and textiles, the medium remains oil on canvas. Each painting features a visual rhythm constructed from drawing, tonal scale, and composition. Every detail counts when it comes to directing the eye, creating atmosphere, and sustaining his proposal. "Diario El Comercio. All rights reserved."
With Piruwmanta Dreams, Bazo proposes finding ourselves within a whole. An interconnected world that recognizes its particularities not as a barrier, but as a possibility for dialogue. From the La Rebelde bookstore in Barranco, he reminds us that culture is not just ruins, but a material capable of transformation without losing its roots. "Like a torch passed from generation to generation, and each person decides how to carry it," he concludes. "Diario El Comercio. All rights reserved."
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