“I saw what I Dreamed and the Pigment Ran”   

Renzo was born on April 11, 1953 in Martinez, California and raised in the state’s Bay Area within a conservative and strictly religious environment.

As the father of “Lucid Realism”, an artistic style that draws heavily on Renzo’s experiences with the indigenous cultures of Australia, Costa Rica, and Mexico as it expresses the commonality of the human experience through symbolic, abstract, and figurative expressionism, he encourages the viewer to perceive the cohesion between the waking and dreaming states.

Renzo’s paintings and sculptures express and communicate his observations of what he believes to be the basic qualities that separate humanity from the inanimate objects that surround it while maintaining their interconnectivity.

“Over the years I have developed an affinity to communication through symbols/pictographs; visual language.”

Renzo’s painted images are opaque with transparent overlays to form composites, ranging from the figurative to abstract expressionism. He always uses highly fluid paints, because of his connection with their unique qualities on the canvas. Building layer upon layer in a process of construction and illustrated depth, Renzo depicts metaphors and variables on relationships, spirituality, intent, and even tribal similes. His practice of artistic alchemy, use of brush strokes, and habit of scratching at the surface of the canvas to produce a primal nature to these imaginary vehicles help to convey an ever illusive inspiration through each painting.

His sculptures, on the other hand, are bold three-dimensional translations of his paintings, bringing them to life with 360 degrees of unmistakable Mezzo-American flavor replete with symbolism and deep meanings to be discovered by the viewer. Rock or stone, for instance, are used as metaphors for emotion and history, as they have been here since the beginning of time, while ropes and other bindings are used to convey the truth that our emotions, feelings, culture, and history is always with us and masks represent the façade that we present to others, our outer self, that hides our soul and spirit, sometimes even from ourselves.

Renzo has shown his work throughout California and is in the permanent collections of the Crocker Museum in Sacramento. His work is also represented in the ongoing exhibition for the Kaiser Corporation, as well as public and commercial galleries in Florida, Nevada, Texas, Germany and Mexico.

While creating his art over the years, Renzo has held various positions within the visual arts arena including: illustrator, art director, graphic designer and exhibit designer. He has also worked as an instructor and career development administrator at The Art Institute of California in San Diego, California, where he was responsible for faculty management, curriculum development and undergraduate instruction.

Now painting and sculpting full time in Southern California, Renzo’s “Lucid Realism” creations portray a level of tactile skill and competence that evoke a personal involvement from the viewer. By incorporating pictographic symbols and the metaphoric properties of objects such as rock, stone, masks, rope, and other bindings, Renzo amplifies his “Lucid Realism” and at once poses and answers provocative questions.