On the East Coast of the United States, during a record setting day of heat in the summer of 1987, Rene Senegal died in the womb of his mother. She by some miracle, and with half her life, managed with...
Read MoreOn the East Coast of the United States, during a record
setting day of heat in the summer of 1987, Rene Senegal died in the womb of his
mother. She by some miracle, and with half her life, managed with the help of a
neighbor she had only me the day before, to make it to the hospital where
doctors saved both lives.
Rene’s childhood was nomadic, time spent in major cities and
small towns provided a steady injection of diverse cultures, characters and
settings for reflection. By his teenage years he had lived throughout the
United States and had almost filled his passport. His mother was an artist and
stay at home mom, she encouraged him to create, and due to the lack of
technology and stable friends, when not out exploring his temporary environment
he passed his days reading and creating.
He left home to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
in Los Angeles CA, then went to Columbia
College in Chicago IL, majoring in Dramatic Arts with a focus on Playwriting. He dropped out during his junior year because
he spent more time painting than on his writing assignments, for him the
autonomy of the Visual Arts brings more fulfillment than theatre, though it’s
still dear to his heart. He particularly
likes the correlation between the layers of the human condition and the layers
of paint in a painting, each step in the process builds on the previous and in
the end is a completed story.
He moved to Miami FL a year after he dropped out of school,
where Dominican artist Ada Balcacer, came across Rene selling his work in the
streets of the Wynwood Art District. She offered him an apprenticeship. Every
morning they would eat breakfast, then work in her studio, she provided not only the knowledge of a Master
Artist, but also the materials Rene could not afford. “Before Ada everything I was doing was pure
instinct, she taught me to read what I was saying to myself through the
intrinsic process, she taught me how to read other artist’s work. She was the
key I needed to unlock all within, and she did it by opening my eyes to all
that was around!”
Rene apprenticed under Ada for two years, working and
showing in Miami, he then became restless and began moving, working and showing
around the United States, briefly settling in Denver CO. Currently he resides
in Ft. Lauderdale FL, but does not believe he’ll be there past 2021, his eyes are set on the rest of the world.
