Migrants

Enrique Polanco was a disciple of Víctor Humareda, whose technique and subject matter influenced him from the 1970s.
Polanco considers himself a figurative expressionist painter, hence the intense colors, the use of impasto or thick brushstrokes, and the sinuous lines. Social issues dominate his work.
In Migrantes, the artist has portrayed an entire family. Some of its members are dressed in the typical clothing of the rural Andes, while others wear dresses and suits associated with the urban life of the capital. This marked contrast among members of the same family is reinforced by the twin background to the composition: one is warm and filled with life, while the other is gray and dull. The painting describes for us a complex everyday reality that is the result of the different circumstances which define Peru’s republican history.