Grippa
Francisco Grippa was born in Tumbes, Peru, in 1942. He went to Los Angeles, California, at the age of 18 and studied art at Otis Parsons Art Institute and Woodbury University earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. After graduation he received a scholarship to study in Spain at the Universidad San Jorge in Zaragoza. Unwilling to take the full curriculum as he only wanted to study color, he quit after three months and spent the next year reproducing the great masters at museums in Madrid, Toledo and Barcelona. He also went to Paris where he spent six additional months reproducing other famous works prior to moving to London to study graphics and lithography.
After living more than 3 years in different cities in Europe, he moved back to California and continued painting and one day saw a magazine article about the Shipibo Indians in the Peruvian Amazon. “I got goose bumps when I first read it,” he says, “it was the beginning for me. I found what I was looking for. I felt that my culture was given rebirth within me.” From there nature was to become the foundation of his work.
Fascinated by Shipibos’ artist style, he took a 2 week trip to the Amazon that ended up lasting 4 months. He returned to California for a short time, but was drawn back to the Amazon. Since 1972 he traveled back and forth from Los Angeles, his part-time home, and Peru. While in the Amazon he spent several years studying the styles and natural dyes used by the Shipibos, Boras and other tribes. He eventually settled in the small town of Pevas, Peru, on the Amazon River where he still lives and paints today.
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After living more than 3 years in different cities in Europe, he moved back to California and continued painting and one day saw a magazine article about the Shipibo Indians in the Peruvian Amazon. “I got goose bumps when I first read it,” he says, “it was the beginning for me. I found what I was looking for. I felt that my culture was given rebirth within me.” From there nature was to become the foundation of his work.
Fascinated by Shipibos’ artist style, he took a 2 week trip to the Amazon that ended up lasting 4 months. He returned to California for a short time, but was drawn back to the Amazon. Since 1972 he traveled back and forth from Los Angeles, his part-time home, and Peru. While in the Amazon he spent several years studying the styles and natural dyes used by the Shipibos, Boras and other tribes. He eventually settled in the small town of Pevas, Peru, on the Amazon River where he still lives and paints today.
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