"TOTEM" From the series: "From Earth" Painting

Fidel Rodriguez is a Venezuelan born artist founder and co-owner of Artspace 8, the largest contemporary art gallery in the Gold Coast of Chicago. Between 2015 and 2019 Artspace 8 has been dedicated to represent and propel artist's visions into the art market through an advanced incubator project. Artspace 8 is open seven days a week in Michigan Avenue to offer you the experience of a museum like setting with a bold and demystified narrative. Fidel Rodriguez is a fine artist who started painting at a very early age, his earliest paintings and drawings were influenced by the “Tauromaquia”, inspired by his grandfather who was a bullfighter. He studied Graphic Design at the age of 17 in Caracas, Venezuela, and his prodigious talent eventually earned him a UNESCO scholarship to study Painting at the Armando Reveron University. Additionally, he was one of the youngest artists accepted at the Fifth National Biennial of Drawing in Caracas, and by 18 he was represented by Ars Forum Gallery in Venezuela. Since then, Fidel Rodriguez worked for several years as a scenic artist for an Italian corporation in the Dominican Republic and Mexico. In 1998 in New York City and working as a set designer Fidel made into his first serious representation in America by Monique Goldstrom Gallery which gave him a glimpse of the art business. Fidel Rodriguez has turned Artspace 8 Gallery into a maximized roster of artists that clearly share the understanding and the dynamics of the art business, making the gallery a place that houses an art movement in the City of Chicago.