One of the most singular artists of the 21st century, Fernando Botero meets art lovers for the first time at the Pera Museum with an exhibition comprising a selection of 64 works. Botero has brought a new interpretation to the aesthetics of our times, and the exhibition depicts this interpretation in six sections - the circus, the bullfight, Latin American people, Latin American life, still lifes and versions from past masters of the history of art. The works of the Colombian artist contain many references to his own culture and life, and in a unique style they question the concept of beauty in our century.

"When I paint an apple or an orange, I know that it will be possible to recognize them as mine and that it is I who painted them, because I seek to give to every painted element, even the simplest, a personality that comes from a profound conviction." 

"I dared painting the corrida (bullfight) because I was very much familiar with the theme. It is impossible to paint if there doesn't exist a strong relation between the subject and one's soul. This relationship is absolutely necessary inasmuch as it gives you a sort of moral authority. That authority I had for the theme, flowed out from the sangre (‘blood') and from my own life."

"You can find in my painting a world I got to know during my youth. It is a sort of nostalgia, which I have turned into the central theme of my work. [...] I lived fifteen years in New York and a long time in Europe, but this has changed nothing in my Latin American approach, nature and spirit. The communion with my country is total."

With the support of the Honorary Consulate of Colombia, The Spanish Embassy and Instituto Cervantes, Istanbul