Rubén Silhy

Artist statement
Biography
Exhibitions
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The main subject matter of my work is controlling compulsion and desire possession of humankind. My interests are these human psychological facets in its pure and primitive states.

My characters are inspired in power and authority images of different ancient civilizations and Art History periods. Among them, there are Byzantine personages, Gothic and Renaissance Madonna’s. Also, I select hieratical characteristics from North and Latin American popular art images. Moreover, I reference unknown characters in photographs of late 19th and early 20th centuries. Because I maintain a fascination for smooth surfaces of Classical and Flemish paintings, I prefer oil technique in order to develop my work, in which I always pursue detail. All of these sources nurture my work, and they help me to reinvent a surreal and timeless atmosphere. I use symbols like birds in order to depict liberty and freewill. I also portray other animals, such as the cat or the fox, corresponding to the characterization of depredation instinct. Personages’ brilliant eyes represent ambition and present pollution. A heart in a cage symbolizes passion an other repressed emotions. Cages by itself evoke trap desires and shortages. A switch refers to technology and our contemporary time. Exploited trees represent massive production and consumerism culture surroundings. Open interpretations of all of these symbols may establish new associations and meanings by viewers.

Rubén Silhy (San Salvador, 1970) is a Salvadoran artist trained in Applied Arts at the Universidad Doctor José Matías Delgado, where he studied in 1992. His work is part of prominent national and international collections, including the Forma Museum (El Salvador), the UNIS Rozas Botrán Museum (Guatemala), the Cader Foundation (United States), and the Imago Mundi collection (Italy), as well as private collections in England, Spain, and France.

In 1998, he received an honorable mention in the Palmares Diplomat Painting Contest in San Salvador. Silhy has participated in significant contemporary art events in the region, such as the SumArte auctions at the Museo de Arte de El Salvador (2010 and 2011), the exhibition at Casa de las Américas, Cuba (2012), and the Arte en Mayo showcases in Guatemala (2016 and 2017).

This exhibition is the result of his participation in the Artistic Residency granted by the Centro Nacional de Artes de El Salvador (CENAR) in 2025. During the residency, he developed a new body of work that deepens his visual research from a contemporary perspective, with a commitment to the local context.