Artists

Mauricio Ortiz

Shop prints

Curiosity pollinates the exotic imagination of the Costa Rican-born artist Mauricio Ortiz. UK fans include Jamie Oliver and Roman Abramovich, who owns various works from the original shell series created for Mogens Tholstrup’s The Collection restaurant bar. Mauricio’s fluid creativity has also invited collaborations with Robert Plant and Paul Smith. Ortiz emerged from Central America into a Delfina Studio Award in London, where he continues to develop his ideas.

“To be a member of the modern elite is to regard wonder with studied indifference. Yet wonders still persist, stubbornly, on the margins of our modern age. A wonder is something that so forcibly grabs your attention you are incapable of ignoring it. And because they don't fit into existing categories, wonders are perfect objects for making you rethink the world.

An expression of New World reality which at once combines the rational elements of European civilization, and the intuitive elements of Pre-Columbian America provide a context for my work. The alchemy of these opposites often produces a hybrid. This amalgamation reveals supernatural characteristics describing the spirit of the object, which is staged as a curiosity.”

Mauricio Ortiz