ABOUT PARRATORO
Rafael Parratoro aka PARRATORO (1977, Caracas, Venezuela) is a visual artist specialized in kinetics and optical art. A pioneer in artistic creation with augmented reality and 3D technology, he develops works in both digital and physical formats. He currently resides in Buenos Aires, the city in which he became an Argentine national and where he developed most of his artistic career.
With training in hydraulic engineering at the Central University of Venezuela, he uses computer and mathematical tools to develop his artistic research. His interest in art and technology motivated him to train in different parts of the world. He attended Pictoplasma Academy in Berlin, studied UI / UX Design at the California Institute of the Arts and attended SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) two years in a row in Los Angeles. After completing a master's degree in computer graphics, he worked as a 3D art developer for the video game industry and there he began to develop his artistic career.
His body of work addresses the challenges and possibilities that new technologies offer us at the service of art.
He participated in various exhibitions in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, the United States, Germany, China and Italy. Among the collective exhibitions, the following stand out: PREMIUM (Art Basel Miami Season 2015), NEI LUOGHI DELLA BELLEZZA (Cittá di Noto, Santa Caterina. Italy, 2016), NFT Art Week, Beijing, China, 2021, “Sonata de Cruces Posibles” , FOLA, Buenos Aires, 2021, LABITCONF, Buenos Aires, 2022.
Regarding individual exhibitions, it is worth highlighting: MOIRÉPH (Solo Exhibition). Borges Cultural Center - Tres Pinos Foundation. Curated by Massimo Scaringella. Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2015. 1ESA1 LIVING Library. Santiago de Chile. Curated by Macarena Cacciuttolo.Tres Punto Cero, Cott Gallery, Buenos Aires, 2022. Renault NFTs, Usina del Arte, Buenos Aires, 2022
In 2017 he intervened the Obelisk of Buenos Aires with mapping; he developed the "Kinetic Watch" for Dedegumo in Japan; he made the facade of Landmark Unicenter and made an intervention with augmented reality at the Lollapalooza Festival 2022.
In 2014 Parra Toro published the animated book in real time Pop On Op, which was distributed in more than 30 countries. In his book he presents 55 designs of his own made with moiré. This technique produces an effect, in which to an interference pattern of similar lines, new non-existent "lines" are generated. This is generally considered an error in graphic design, print and video, because it generates random and uncontrollable visual “noise”. His proposal is precisely to "control" this erroneous effect.
The moiré effect is a resource that the artist uses throughout his work to develop a “neocineticism” since he captures it in both physical (acrylic works) and digital media (augmented reality works and NFTs) that he exhibits in marketplaces. , digital exhibitions or the metaverse.
When investigating the use of new media, he analyzes both the benefits and the disadvantages that this implies, and considers that in the future most of the automatic tasks will be carried out by robots. the only thing they can never do is create. creativity is the only thing that justifies our existence as a species. Which is why he believes that the future is in art.
Parratoro is currently one of the main exponents of optical art.
EXHIBITIONS
Solo Shows
Group Shows
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“El Tercer Pasajero”, ESEADE, 2022
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DAM, Centro Cultural Plaza Castelli. 2022
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Tres Punto Cero, Cott Gallery, Buenos Aires, 2022
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LOLLAPALOOZA Argentina 2022. Intervención
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Fachada Tiendas LANDMARK, Buenos Aires, 2022
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Renault NFTs, Usina del Arte, Buenos Aires, 2022
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“Somos Love” Videoclip de Vicky Maurette, Buenos Aires, 2020
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Live Performance, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de la Boca, 2019
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Imaginable, Posible, Öss Café Buenos Aires, 2019
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1 es a 1, Ciudad de Los Andes, Chile, 2019
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RAFAEL PARRATORO, HOTEL MARRIOT W, Ciudad de México, 2019
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ARTE EN MOVIMIENTO. Galería Adriana Budich, Buenos Aires, 2018
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1ESA1 Biblioteca VIVA. Santiago de Chile. Curaduría Macarena Cacciuttolo.
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Mapping del Obelisco, Ciudad de Buenos Aires (30 Años del Hospital Garrahan)
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1ESA1 (Solo Exhibition) Espacio O. Santiago de Chile. Curaduría Macarena Cacciuttolo 2017.
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ARCOBALENO (Apertura Atelier) Atelier ParraToro. Curaduría (Tiburón Negro) 2016.
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LA EVOLUCIÓN DE LA FORMA (Solo Exhibition). Centro Cultural Borges - Fundación Tres Pinos. Curaduría: Massimo Scaringella. Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2016.
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MOIRÉPH (Solo Exhibition). Centro Cultural Borges - Fundación Tres Pinos. Curaduría Massimo Scaringella. Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2015.

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X-Universe AR, La Nuit de la Culture, Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
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BIG-X, Belval Plaza, Luxembourg
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La Nuit de la Culture "X-Universe", Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
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Feria MAPA 2023 (Cott Gallery), Buenos Aires
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LABITCONF, Buenos Aires, 2022
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Festival Ciudad Emergente, Buenos Aires, 2022
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Bitcoin Fair, Carnaval Art, Miami USA, 2022
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World Padel Tour, Buenos Aires, 2021
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“Sonata de Cruces Posibles”, FOLA, Buenos Aires, 2021
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NFT Art Week,Beijing, China, 2021
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Diderot American Express Performance, Buenos Aires, 2020
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Diderot Digital Exhibition, Metaverso, 2020
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Digital Pandemic Collabs con R.R.A.A.- y Tano Verón, 2020
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III Acto Cultural Festival Migrante, Buenos Aires, 2019
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OPENING, Wosco Art Gallery, 2019
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Feria MAPA Espacio O, Buenos Aires, 2019
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LA RUTA DEL COLOR Aura Galerías, Ciudad de México 2018
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PLANCK FESTIVAL Digital Art Festival. Buenos Aires, Argentina 2016
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NEI LUOGHI DELLA BELLEZZA Cittá di Noto, Santa Caterina. Italy, 2016
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NI UNA MENOS . Articiclo. Buenos Aires, Argentina 2016
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IL PRIMATO DELLO SGUARDO Comune di Messina. Italy, 2016
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UPFRONT. Miami, FL. 2016
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PREMIUM (Art Basel Miami Season 2015). Miami, FL. 2015-2016
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MEMORY Schwerdter Strasse, Berlín, Germany. 2015
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THE SOFTLINE. Miami, FL. 2015
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(RE)VISION) 1199 First Avenue, New York, USA. 2014
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THINGS OF BEAUTY. Miami, FL. 2014
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MIAMI-MIAMI. Miami, FL. 2014
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BEAUTIFIED OBJECTS. Miami, FL. 2014
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CONCEPTS (Art Basel Season 2014). Miami, FL. 2014
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FONZO. Miami, FL. 2014
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PICTOPLASMA (PORTRAITS & SELFIES), Museo MARCO de Monterrey, Mexico. 2014
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PICTOPLASMA ACADEMY GROUP SHOW Urban Spree, Berlín, Germany. 2014


Artist Statement
“I do a lot of research, and then I just let it all go through my pieces… that’s how I make sure they keep surprising the public and myself. I just let them live by themselves, they develop their own perpetual energy and I surrender them to eternity.
My art is dynamic, it is movement, it is illusion and interaction, it wouldn’t exist without the presence of the observer. It is organic only when someone is looking at it, by itself it is cold and geometrical, because it is honest to it’s digital origin, but it becomes alive and vibratory only at the presence of human eyes and light, they are the true creators of my pieces. My work is based on moiré and chromatic induction.
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Moiré has been developed and used by the greatest masters of kinetic and optical art, my starting point were those studies and I continued my research until I managed to control those vibrations with help from calculus and programing. That is how I produce shapes that aren’t really there, they appear to be there only because of the superposition of real vertical lines, and multiple inexistent elements are created from there, exploring without boundaries the creation of illusions with shapes and colors, that is what makes my pieces unique and interactive.
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I began creating neo-kinetic art when my father passed away. I just wanted to know, where had he gone?. My art is the answer to that question, they are creatures that only live inside other people, they have everlasting energy and they don’t need batteries or electricity to vibrate, you only need to walk in front and around this pieces made of plexiglass, vinyl and digital printing to realize that they are there, eternally alive.”
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