Carlos Barberena de la Rocha was born in the city of Granada, Nicaragua in 1972, (the same year as the Managua earthquake).   He was born into a family of artists, as the son of Myriam de la Rocha Silva (b.1938) and Roberto Barberena Ruiz (1938-1972), who unfortunately died in an accident when Carlos was only six months of age.  Myriam was descended from a family of artists; of special note were the great portrait artist of the XIX century, Segundo de la Rocha and Lic. Juan Eligio de la Rocha, who discovered and saved the indigenous traditional oral theatrical work El Güegüense, now a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.   Roberto was a great lover of art and dedicated his free time to writing poetry, painting with watercolors and playing the guitar.

He had a normal childhood, his interest in art was sparked by watching his older brothers Robert Barberena de la Rocha (b.1961) and Cesar Barberena (b.1962), both great artists, as they entered into the uncertain world of fine arts.  However, his interest was interrupted by the dictatorship and the civil war in Nicaragua at this time.  Because of these events he left for Costa Rica in 1986 in forced exile.  Costa Rica gave him refuge and allowed him to continue his studies.  But it was not until 1990 that his true interest for artistic persuits allowed him to revisit his memories.  Carlos was self-taught in his artistic formation with occasional tutelage from his brother Robert Barberena de la Rocha.

At the end of 1990 he participated in a national competition, Nuevos Valores “Fausto Pacheco (New Values “Fausto Pacheco”) in the Sophia Wanamaker Gallery of the Costa Rican- North American Cultural Center.  This exposition allowed his to take his first steps in his artistic career.

In 1992 he participates in the International Arts Festival in San Jose, Costa Rica.  In 1993, he visits Nicaragua, after seven years of exile.  In 1994 he exhibits his work for the first time with his brothers in a Latin American group exposition, in the Colonnade Gallery at George Washington University in Washington D.C. in the USA.

In 1997 he returns to Nicaragua again, to present his first individual exposition named “Images of Faith and Devotion,” in the Casa de los Tres Mundos (House of the Three Worlds) in the city of Granada. In this exposition he presents a series of images that show us the faithful mirror of our America, lost in the images that many times that many times we overlook and that become habit, but that are present here and now.  This is a portrait of dreams in crisis, for those of us that still scream our marginalized and hungered anguish enveloped in the images of faith that are sold to us on the streets and that live with great devotion from cardboard boxes.  (From this year on, his splits his time between Nicaragua and Costa Rica).

In 1998 he joined the National Nicaraguan Fine Arts Union Leonel Vanegas (Unión Nicaragüense de Artistas Plásticos Leonel Vanegas) where he continues to hold membership.

In 2000, he causes a great impact with his second individual exposition entitled “Años de Miedo, ” (“Time of Fear,”).  This exposition is presented as a manner of reflection on our bitter national reality, but without limiting itself geographically.  It transcends borders without fear to speak what needs to be spoken without calculation nor the interests of any, without limitations of a preconceived ideological normative.

In addition to the display of humanity, Carlos demonstrates the essence of a search for a new language of art and vision for modernity.  He uses discarded materials for the consumption of the masses (cardboard boxes, paper bags, doors and window, metals, plastic, etc.).  The “object trouvé” in the use of collage and ensemble, presenting non-conventional support, tri-dimensionally enriching the pictorial work, with an eclectic technique and a strong neoexpressionist and vanguard character; in a convulsion of forms that emerge from the silence with a dynamism of force and energy that tormentuosly agitate each other.  

This exposition was presented in the Casa de los Tres Mundos in Granada and in the Praxis Gallery in the city of Managua, Nicaragua.  The exposition was to be taken through Central America; it’s next showing being in 2001 in the National Gallery at the Costa Rican Center for Science and Culture in San Jose Costa Rica.  Unfortunately, the exposition did not continue for lack of government support and funding.

In 2002 he paints the mural “Life” (22 meters by 4 meters) in the Oasis Hostel in the city of Granada, Nicaragua.  This year he learns printmaking techniques (dry point, etching and aquatint) with the German artist Wolfgang Hunecke en the Casa de los Tres Mundos, He also presents the exposition “Septiembre 11 (in memoriam)”  (September 11 [in memory]”) in the Centro Cultural Paseo de Arte (Art’s Way Cultural Center) in Granada, Nicaragua.  In this exposition Barberena exhibits a series of silent characters, who show us the deep unhealed wounds and the scars planted in our memory, faces captured by anguish that reflect the intense pain of experience and fear, no longer left forgotten in their presence, bi-polar beings that shake our souls with the visual impact provoked by the images of the state of the world that the media repeats without tiring.  In this manner we attend stupidly to the spectacle of chaos, filling ourselves with consternation and fear. 

In 2003 he takes over the Plaza of Independence in Granada with the artists Robert Barberena de la Rocha and Fernando López Gutiérrez in favor of peace and in protest of the Nicaraguan Government’s decision to support the war against Iraq.  The make three installation pieces, jointly entitled “Ya no ruge la voz del canon, ni se tiñe con sangre de hermanos…” (No longer does the cannon roar, nor is it covered by the blood of our brothers).  During the same year he is invited to participate in the V Biennial del caribe in the Dominican Republic with the “Intervened Umbrellas Project” in the Museo del Hombre Dominicano (Museum of the Dominican Man).  He participates in the exposition of Contemporary Art of Nicaragua and Michoacán: Between Tropics, in Michoacán, Mexico.

In 2004 the three brothers (Robert, Cesar and Carlos Barberena) give an exposition for the first time in Nicaragua.  The exposition, entitled”3 Artists, 3 Purposes, 3 Brothers, “ was given in the Museum of the Former Convent of San Francisco in Granada, Nicaragua.  The exposition was made possible by the Future of Nicaragua Foundation.  He gives an individual exposition, “Emerging from the Silence” in the Marco Aurelio Aguilar Mata Room a the CUC in Cartago.  Here, with Carlos presents a show that leads us to relate the interiorism of the “I” with his capacity for social perception of the universe framed in the figure of the human being and an exceptional vision for understanding the macro-cosmos: the streets and the person, the individualism and its connections with the physical universe.  At the end of the lesson, his concept evokes the egocentrism of a social and materialist being, individualist and suffering.

The same year he is chosen to represent Nicaragua in the XIII Art Salon, in the exposition: Identity Imprint: A Glance at Ibero-American Printmaking at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C. , U. S. A.

In 2005 he participates in the VI International Art Showing, Hernán Hidalgo in the CUC in Cartago, Costa Rica.  He participates in the Fusión Visual Arts Festival in 2004 and 2005 in the Casa de los Tres Mundos in Granada Nicaragua.

In 2006 he participated in the International Arts Festival (FIA) in San Jose, Costa Rica, the Ibero-American Cultural Capital for 2006.  He also participates in the VII International Art Showing Hernán Hidalgo in the CUC in Cartago, Costa Rica.  He gives an individual showing of prints and drawings entitled “Eco-grafica” in the Casa de los Tres Mundos in Granada, Nicaragua.  He subsequently brings the exposition to Costa Rica and presents it in the Medrano Art Gallery.  In September he participates in the group exposition “Another Granada for Walker” in Casa Macondo in Granada Nicaragua.

The work of Carlos Barberena has been exhibited in numerous arts festivals, biennales of art as well as in museums and galleries throughout Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Spain, United States of America, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Venezuela.  His artistic work has been published in almanacs and Christmas cards benefiting Costa Rican children.  He has also participated in art auctions benefiting Nicaraguan children.  He has received various awards, most notably the award- poster for the Ecology and Human Rights in Banana Plantations in Costa Rica, given by GEBANA in Berlin, Germany.

Solo Exhibitions:

2010 - Master Prints and Años de Miedo.

Art House Gallery. McAllen, Texas. USA.

 

- Master Prints and Años de Miedo.

University Gallery. The University of Texas-Pan American. Edinburg, Texas. USA.

2009 - Años de Miedo. Portafolio de Grabados.

Sala Asilia Guillén, Museo Antiguo Convento de San Francisco, Granada, Nicaragua.

- Años de Miedo / Time of Fear. Prints Portfolio.

Expressions Graphics Gallery. Oak Park, IL U.S.A.

2007 - Obra Gráfica de Carlos Barberena.

Sala Antonio Salas León. Antiguo Colegio Jesuita, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, México.

2006 - Eco-Grafika.

Medrano Art Gallery. San José, Costa Rica.

      

- Eco-Grafika.

Casa de los Tres Mundos. Granada, Nicaragua.

2004 - Emergiendo del Silencio.

Sala Marco Aurelio Aguilar Mata. Colegio Universitario  de Cartago. Cartago, Costa Rica.

2002 - Septiembre 11 (in memoriam)

Centro Cultural Paseo de Arte. Granada, Nicaragua.

2001 - Años de Miedo. (Paintings and Sculptures)

Galería Nacional. Centro Costarricense de Ciencia y Cultura. Museo de los Niños, San José, Costa Rica.

      

2000 - Años de Miedo. (Paintings)

Galería Praxis, Managua, Nicaragua.

- Años de Miedo. (Paintings)

Casa de los Tres Mundos, Granada, Nicaragua.

1997 - Imágenes de Fe y Devoción.

 Casa de los Tres Mundos, Granada, Nicaragua.

Two Artists Exhibitions:

2009 - A Question of Vida y Muerte.

 Harris Gallery, Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL. U.S.A.

  

2008 - BARBERENA DE LA ROCHA. Gráfica Contemporánea.

Sala Latinoamericana, Palacio Nacional de la Cultura. Managua, Nicaragua.

2007 - BARBERENA DE LA ROCHA. Gráfica Contemporánea.

Museo Antiguo Convento de San Francisco. Granada, Nicaragua.

2004 - 3 Artistas 3 Propuestas 3 Hermanos.

Museo Antiguo Convento de San Francisco. Granada, Nicaragua.

Murals:

2002 - LA VIDA. (22mts x 4 mts.)

Hostal Oasis, Calle Estrada, Granada, Nicaragua.

Group Exhibitions (selected):

2010 - GAIA estrago ecológico.

Alianza Francesa, Managua, Nicaragua.

 

- Proyecto Paraguas 2010.

Centre Cultural la Farinera del Clot. Barcelona, España.

2009 - Todos Somos Inmigrantes / We Are All Immigrants.

Casa Aztlán, Calmecac Gallery, Chicago, IL U.S.A.

- Grabado Latinoamericano y Nicaraguense.

Museo Antiguo Convento de San Francisco, Granada, Nicaragua.

    

- Nuestro Norte es el Sur.

Mostra di Pittura y Escultura Latinoamericana Venice Convention,“Galleria Ex Casinó”, Venezia, Italy.

 

- GAIA. Estrago Ecólogico.

Biblioteca “José Coronel Urtecho”. Universidad Centroamericana. UCA. Managua, Nicaragua.

 

- 8th Lessedra World Art Print Annual Mini Print 2009.

Lessedra Gallery. Sofia, Bulgaria.

- 24 Grafiekbiennale Sint-Niklaas 2009.

International Exlibriscentrum, Stedelijke Musea, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium.

 

- Artists of Expressions Graphics.

Art House, McAllen, Texas. U.S.A.

- Evita el Exceso. Tripa Co.

Chicago Art Department, Chicago IL U.S.A.

- Nuestro Norte es el Sur.

Mostra di Pittura Latinoamericana. Palazzo Fogazzaro, Schio, Vicenza, Italia.

2008 - V Festival Fusión de Artes Visuales.

En Homenaje al Maestro Leoncio Sáenz. Casa de los Tres Mundos, Granada, Nicaragua.

- Certamen Nacional de Artes Visuales. “Rodrigo Peñalba”.

Salón de Gráfica “Oscar Rodriguez”. Palacio Nacional de la Cultura. Managua, Nicaragua.

      

- BIMPE V.

The Fifth Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition. Dundarave Print Workshop.

Granville Island, Vancouver, BC. Canada.

 

- 7th Lessedra World Art Print Annual Mini Print 2008.

Lessedra Gallery. Sofia, Bulgaria.

- BIMPE V.

The Fifth Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition. Federation Gallery. Granville Island,

Vancouver, BC. Canada.

- Certamen Nacional de Dibujo.

“Retratos de Darío”. Salón de los Cristales, Teatro Nacional Rubén Darío. Managua, Nicaragua.

 

2007 - III Encuentro Mundial de Arte Corporal.

Museo Lía Bermúdez, CAMLB. Maracaibo, Zulia. República Bolivariana de Venezuela.

- Exposición de Artes Plásticas en saludo al 28 Aniversario del Triunfo de la Revolución Popular Sandinista. Teatro Nacional Rubén Darío. Managua, Nicaragua.

- Artista Invitado.

VIII Muestra Internacional de Arte Libre Hernán Hidalgo Hidalgo. Sala Marco Aurelio Aguilar Mata. Colegio Universitario de Cartago. C.U.C. Cartago, Costa Rica.

- Dia Internacional de la Mujer.

En Homenaje a Hilda Vogl. Galería Praxis, Managua, Nicaragua.

2006 – III Festival Fusión de Artes Visuales.

Casa de los Tres Mundos. Granada, Nicaragua. 

- Otra Granada para Walker.

Casa Macondo. Granada, Nicaragua.

    

- El Arte y su Tiempo.

VII Muestra Internacional de Arte Libre. Hernán Hidalgo Hidalgo. Colegio Universitario de Cartago. C.U.C. Cartago, Costa Rica.

- Festival Internacional de las Artes. (FIA 2006).

San José Capital Iberoamericana de la Cultura. San José, Costa Rica.

         

2005 - IV Certamen Nacional de Pintura ‘Rodrigo Peñalba’.

Pinacoteca del Banco Central de Nicaragua. Managua, Nicaragua.

    

- XIII Ibero - American Art Salon. “Identity Imprint”.

A Glance at Ibero - American Printmaking”. Instituto de México, Washington D.C. U.S.A.       

      

2004 – Alas de Papel III.

Casa de los Tres Mundos. Granada, Nicaragua.

- I Festival Fusión de Artes Visuales.      

Casa de los Tres Mundos, Granada, Nicaragua. 

    

- Proyecto Paraguas Intervenidos.

Museu da Tecnología e Ciencia. Pontificio Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Soul Porto Alegre, Brasil.

- Alas de Papel III.

Triton Fine Arts Gallery, Chicago, IL. U.S.A.

    

2003 - V Bienal del Caribe.

Proyecto Paraguas Intervenidos. Museo del Hombre Dominicano.

Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana.

    

- Salon de las Americas. O.E.A.

Washington, D.C. U.S.A.

- Entre Tropicos Arte Contemporáneo de Michoacán y Nicaragua.

Sala “David Alfaro Siqueiros”, Escuela Popular de Bellas Artes, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, Michoacán, México.

    

- Alas de Papel III.

Pinacoteca del Estado de Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, México.

    

- Proyecto Paraguas Intervenidos.

Museo Municipal de Bellas Artes Dr. Urbano Poggi, Rafaela, Argentina.

    

2002 - Arte Contemporáneo Nicaraguense.

Teatro Nacional Rubén Darío. Managua, Nicaragua.

    

- Colectivo Vagoni.

L.E.T. (Laboratorio Experimental Tres Mil) Museo Antiguo Convento de San Francisco,

Granada, Nicaragua.

    

- Grabados del Colectivo Vagoni.

Alianza Francesa, Managua, Nicaragua.

    

- Colectivo Vagoni.

Atelier im Baumhaus, Bonn, Alemania.       

2001 – Arte Contemporáneo.

Galería Praxis, Managua, Nicaragua.

    

- Alas de Papel III.

Wilder & Davis Luthiers, Montreal, Québec, Canadá.

    

- Certamen de Pintura. En Saludo a las Victimas de las Minas.

Sala Rodrigo Peñalba, Palacio Nacional de la Cultura, Managua, Nicaragua.

    

1999 – III Bienal Alas de Papel.

Museo Municipal de Palma de Río, Córdoba, España.

 

- III Bienal Alas de Papel.

Casa de la Cultura San Sebastian, Espiel, Córdoba, España.

- De Amor y de Muerte.

Mi Café, Casa de los Tres Mundos, Granada, Nicaragua.

1998 - II Bienal Alas de Papel.

Biblioteca Multicultural de Laval, Québec, Canada.

      

- Wilder & Davis Lutiers, Montreal, Québec, Canada.

1997 - 8 Artistas, 8 Propuestas.

Galería Praxis. Managua, Nicaragua.                                                                                                                                                                                   

    

- Primer Certamen Nacional de Grabado.

Casa de los Tres Mundos, Granada, Nicaragua.

1994 - Arte Latinoaméricano.

Colonnade Gallery, The George Washington University. Washington, D.C. U.S.A.

1992 - Festival Internacional de las Artes 92.

Galería Artística Metropolitana. Festival Internacional de las Artes 92. San José, Costa Rica.

    

- II Festival Nacional de Folklore y Cultura 92.

FERCORI, San José, Costa Rica.

    

- Primitivist Art Festival.

Artestudio-90 Gallery. San José, Costa Rica.

1990 - Certamen Anual de Nuevos Valores “Fausto Pacheco”.

Galería Sophia Wanamaker. Centro Cultural Costarricense-Norteamericano.

San José, Costa Rica.

Affiliations:

2008 - Member of Expressions Graphics. Oak Park, IL. U.S.A.

2004 - Miembro de la Asociación Internacional de Artistas Plásticos. (aiap)

UNESCO. Managua, Nicaragua.

    

1998 - Miembro de la Unión Nicaragüense de Artistas Plásticos. UNAP - LEONEL VANEGAS. Managua, Nicaragua.

Awards:

2003 - Premio Afiche: Solidaridad con la Lucha por la Ecología y los Derechos Humanos en las Plantaciones Bananeras de Costa Rica. GEBANA, Berlin, Alemania.

1992 - Festival Internacional de las Artes 92.

Ministerio de Cultura Juventud y Deportes. San José, Costa Rica.

Collections:

2007 - Museo Lía Bermúdez.

Centro de Arte de Maracaibo Lía Bermúdez. Zulia. República Bolivariana de Venezuela.

    

- Centro Cultural Antiguo Colegio Jesuita.

Taller de Formación y Producción Gráfica, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, México.

2004 - Colegio Universitario de Cartago. C.U.C.

Cartago, Costa Rica.

2001 - Galería Nacional.

Centro Costarricense de la Ciencia y la Cultura, Museo de los Niños. San José, Costa Rica.

- Museo Cultural del Caribe.

Isla Margarita, República Bolivariana de Venezuela.

2000 – Galería Praxis. Managua, Nicaragua.

Publications:

 

2009 - Años de Miedo.

Hecho Magazine # III, Managua, Nicaragua.

2005 - Grafik aus Nicaragua. (Calendario)

Baumhaus Kunst-und Kulturinitiative e.V. Bonn, Alemania.

2004 - De Tin Buquin Malacatoyin. (Historietas para Niños)

Realizado con el Apoyo de Cooperación Austriaca para el Desarrollo, Pan y Arte, Casa de los Tres Mundos.Viena, Austria.

2002 - Anticipación y Reacción tras el 9/11 en el Arte.

Obsidiana Revista de Artes y Letras #1. Granada, Nicaragua.

2000 - Libro: Granada 475 Aniversario y... Otras Cosas.

Mario Chacón Silva,(Rimesa, 2000.) Managua, Nicaragua.

1992-1996 - Seleccionado, Tarjetas Navideñas y Almanaque.

Pro-Niños Costarricenses y Conservación de la Naturaleza. San José, Costa Rica.