Barboza's return to painting (1980-2003) informed by conceptual art background
As Milagros Bello writes: "Diego Barboza opened a new chapter in Latin American Neo Figurative painting. Beyond the surreal or the magical realism of the modern Latin American Master, he obsessively looked to create a new language of dislocation and transgression."
When Barboza returned to painting in the 1980s, he brought with him the conceptual rigor and participatory spirit of his London period. His paintings were not simply illustrative - they were conceptual investigations using paint as medium, exploring personal narratives, identity, and cultural heritage through visual language.
Works like "En Torno a Claudia" (Around Claudia) and "El collar prometido" (The Promised Necklace) explored deeply personal stories about family, love, and memory.
"El Lago soy yo" (The Lake is Me) connected Barboza's personal identity to Lake Maracaibo and his Zulian heritage, incorporating symbols from childhood and adolescence.
"FIGURARSE" (Imagining) reimagined the Mona Lisa with Barboza as an aged subject holding his cat, using humor and temporal displacement to question relationships between Latin American artists and European art history.
As Enrique Viloria Vera analyzes, Barboza depicted "brutal passion" - carnal love in its ultimate form, transforming kisses into bites and caresses into grips.
"CORONACION" portrayed his mother as both angel and devil, capturing the complexity of maternal relationships. "Maria Barboza" depicted his mother cutting newspaper figures of famous men, revealing her influence on his ambitions.
Intimate portrayals of family members and Venezuelan cultural figures, including works about his wife Doris, daughter Claudia, mother Maria, and historical figure Simón Bolívar.
Reinterpretations of canonical works like the Mona Lisa, transforming European masterpieces into personal Latin American statements.
Bello positions Barboza's neo-figurative work as a bridge between his conceptual art period and a deeply personal exploration of identity, memory, and cultural heritage, establishing him as a major innovator in contemporary Latin American painting. His unique approach - informed by conceptual background while exploring figurative representation - created paintings that maintained participatory spirit through narrative engagement.