Niño Grande (Matias Paradela)

Born in La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, (July 23th. 1989),  Matias studied Fine Arts and taught Morphology applied to industrial design.

In 2014 he met Keiko Gonzalez at his studio in La Paz. Keiko introduced him to huge oil painting and massive production. Matías started to focus only on painting until he became a full-time painter in 2017.

Niño Grande works now with  some of the most prestigious galleries in Bolivia and Argentina, Including KIOSKO Gallery in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Puro, Salar Galeria in La Paz Bolivia and MM Gallery in Buenos Aires Argentina. Now he continues working in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

About the Feria Americana Series

"Feria Americana" are places in Latin America where people find unusual things that most assume are useless, while for others are treasures. But, of course, it all depends on who is watching.

The gas tanks come on big trucks with music, bells, and noisy klaxons like an ice-cream truck. People inside their houses yell: “El gas!” 

Everyone immediately stops whatever they are doing; someone goes out to stop the truck, another takes some cash, and a third person takes the empty gas tank out of the house. 

This coordinated choreography is part of everyday life in my neighborhood in Bolivia. Gas tanks are nasty but fragile creatures that can explode at any time. 

They portray Bolivian identities: messy, dangerous, but caring and vital. They are in every house. They are essential to life. They cook our meals and keep us warm in the cold of the mountains. I paint gas tanks as they are expensive relics, vessels to catch attention. Like a shiny wrapping paper to switch the way we see them. They lost the uniformity and yellow neutrality, and each develops its own personality. I made gas tanks became part of my identity to feel less foreign, to be part of something bigger; a family, a country, a neighborhood. To feel at home without having one. 

Niño Grande 

Something is locked inside, something is about to explode. Life probably, colors and traditions too. One can think of the first scene of Touch of Evil: the ticking clock, the shiny car riding through an intoxicated town, the exhilarating variety of music, accents, and desires, the hidden danger lurking around the corner.

From the Chinese dragons to the Greek mythology, from modern boxing to romance, each piece feels like a buoyant “invitation au voyage”.

Painting with a raw and striking style, playing with vivid colors and an untamed joy, Niño Grande celebrates the carousel of life; let’s join him.