Bruno Andrade, a native of South Texas, is among the most recognized and distinguished American artists of Chicano heritage. An admirer of Diego Rivera, Rufino Tamayo, Henri Matisse, Marsden Hartley and Joseph Albers, he has forged an original artistic vision based on nature and has asserted a passion for brilliant color and blazing light that is quite unlike anything else in the world of contemporary art. While firmly grounded in his Mexican American heritage, Andrade’s artistry is driven by aesthetics and a profound sense of place. Inspired by nature, he paints from memory. He is a realist with a refined sense of abstraction, a subtle colorist with a boisterous use of hues, and a sophisticated painter inoculated with the wonder of an eccentric visionary.
“Nature is a state of mind—I live in it but do not paint the actual appearance of it—I paint how nature’s appearance affects me. You can live with it all around you and not see it. I invite it to come in, to be an integral part of my life. I feel nature’s power is in the soil. I love to have water around, but I think it is the energy in the soil — the trees and the plants and the flowers —that really sparks my excitement. The sky and water become added flavors and colors and forms. Together they all become what I need to make a painting.”