Herberto Turizzo Anaya: The Shadow is the Masterpiece

Turizzo was born in 1952 in El Limon, Colombia, a small town by a river. At the age of two, he was taken to live with his grandmother and great-grandmother, who were natural healers in a jungle area. He writes: 

"My early childhood years were spent in a lush tropical environment surrounded by animals of many different species. Growing up there I was exposed to cultural traditions of several indigenous groups, the Aracuas, the Cogi, and the Chibchas. 

"At the age of five I began to draw in the sand with a stick such things as animals, trees, and airplanes. At the age of 8½ years, my mother came and took me to the city of Baranquilla, quite a change from living in the country. Shortly after that my grandmothers died months apart from each other. 

"In 1961 the name of my town was changed from El Limon to Campo Seacaucus. The petroleum industry came there. Companies are now exploring for coal. 

"My first oil painting, painted at sixteen, and inspired by an image in a magazine, was of the Rhine River in Germany. 

"I believe that inside every object there exist more objects; reality is not just the physical world. In my paintings the air and water are clean. I try to paint the perfect ecology. 

"My collectors in Colombia, many of whom are from the Jewish community, say that my landscapes remind them of the promised land. "
 

Turizzo moved to New York in 1981. His paintings have been shown and sold throughout South and Central America, as well as in the United States, England, Spain, Monaco and Switzerland. In 2003 alone he exhibited at the Colombian Consulate in New York City, the New York Public Library, and Art Expo International at the Jacob Javits Center. He has also created murals for public spaces. In 1998 his mural for the MTA was transferred to the lobby of Hostos Community College. 

The artist now lives and works in the Hudson Valley town of Kent, New York.