René Serrano Rodriguez Blog

Some other masks in my possession Passport mask Carved wood CIRCA 1980 24 X 16 cm RSR Collection This small mask carved from wood is called a passport mask.  I bought it in Liege Belgium in 2002 and since then i keep it. The  Passport mask  were traditionally carried around by the Dan People, kept in a leather pouch and are often miniature copies of a family mask, which used to be used as a form of identification. They were also often shown off to honor important visitors to the village. Most masks are carved to be similar to a specific family member or person of honor. When leaving the village to hunt or travel, they would carry passport masks as protective charms. The passport mask functioned as proof of one's position within it, which was useful when traveling to other villages. In time, passport masks became a form of tribal identification, each culture with their own distinct styles. The Dan or Mano-Dan are a Mande ethnic group from northwestern Ivory Coast and n...

" Self- Portrait at the Academy of Fine Arts"  # SP2026199801 Mixed media  W39 X H58 X Z27 Cm (W15 X H23 X Z11 In)  2026 While images of the self date to antiquity, the self-portrait emerged as a distinct and enduring genre in the mid-15th century. This period, fueled by the Renaissance ideals of individual identity and artistic mastery, saw creators like Albrecht Dürer systematically depicting themselves not merely as craftsmen, but as subjects of depth and introspection. From then on, the self-portrait became a vital medium for artistic exploration. It is a practice where the artist is both observer and observed, a complex dialogue conducted through brushstrokes, light, and composition. Masters across eras have turned the gaze inward: Rembrandt traced his own aging and soul across dozens of canvases; Frida Kahlo wove personal pain and cultural identity into iconic imagery; Vincent van Gogh used his own visage to master color and convey profound emotion. In the modern er...

Dame de Bruxelles  *M20260110 Mixed media / Canvas 120 X 80 cm (47 X 31 In) 2026 In an era when artificial intelligence generates representations of our most uninhibited “prompts” at unimaginable speeds, I present this series of paintings, part of the  The Off-Hours    which—without my realizing it at the time—I had already begun in 1998. That year, I produced a portrait of my school friend Marie as part of an analog photography laboratory course. This image now serves as the point of departure for a new body of work, reconfigured into painterly compositions and interwoven with figures, hairstyles, clothing, and other motifs drawn from diverse art-historical movements. Copied again and again, the facial features drawn from the same photographic source inevitably change with each human “print.” Through this process, the work pays homage to the academy as an institution, while simultaneously integrating elements from my own personal history. The academic tradition and ...