Omar Rayo

Omar Rayo was a Colombian artist best known for his geometric abstract paintings. Associated with the Op Art movement, Rayo distorted and overlapped forms to create a sense of vibrating light and volumetric shapes. “In my works I use the red and black as dominant colors. The red color was used by Pre-Columbian tribes in the same manner as we use black in the contemporary western culture,” he said of his palette. “I found the red color in the shadows and used it as black.” Born on January 20, 1928 in Roldanillo, Columbia, Rayo spent much of his time in New York during the 1960s and 1970s, where he met his future wife the poet Águeda Pizarro. Over the course of his life, Rayo gained widespread prominence and acclaim, including a retrospective exhibition at the National Room of the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Before his death on June 7, 2010 in Palmira, Colombia, Rayo helped found the Museo Rayo de Dibujo y Grabado Latinoamericano in his hometown of Roldanillo.