Gonzalo Cienfuegos (b 1949) was born in Santiago de Chile and has exhibited widely in Chile , Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and France. His distinctive creations quote freely from art history, both from the masters of Western art and from prominent artists of Latin America. Paintings depict motionless, trance-like figures in a provocative, surreal setting. Enhanced by brightly colored backgrounds and stylized interiors, these narrative paintings are open to many interpretations. It is left to the viewers to identify the characters, recognize the artist's clues, and give personal meaning to each scenario. But always, each figure in the paintings exists in his or her private world, staring vacantly into space. Cienfuegos also always transforms his figures into characters that are shaped by his personal experience in metropolitan Chilean society.