CHARLES: JUNGLE GENIUS
Rachel
JUNGLE GENIUS
Prince Charles discovers master artist in the Amazon rainforest
PRINCE Charles has discovered an art genius living deep in the Amazon
rainforest.
The Prince has shortlisted a picture by a Secoyan indian called Ramon
Piaguaje in an international competition to find the "Painting for the
Millennium."
Yet the artist has barely travelled outside his rainforest community
and does most of his work on a wooden boat.
His astonishing talent came to light when Prince Charles selected
Ramon's picture from hundreds of entries.
The Prince was stunned by the elaborate work, which shows a dense
rainforest under threat.
Now Ramon's work is to be given a worldwide audience in an important
exhibition backed by the United Nations which will open in London,
Stockholm and New York.
It will feature alongside the work of 11 other artists who were also
picked by Prince Charles as winners of the world's largest-ever
international art competition.
More than 22,000 pro- fessional and amateur artists from 51 countries
entered the contest, sponsored by art suppliers Winsor & Newton, after
being challenged to paint a view of their country as it approaches the
new millennium.
Ramon's work was chosen - even though his primitive surroundings have
barely changed in the last thousand years.
The son of a chief, Ramon was persuaded to enter the contest by a local
art distributor in Ecuador. But it was only when British art experts
were sent to Ecuador to investigate Ramon's entry that his
extraordinary story emerged.
Last night, John Sheeran, who was on an international panel of judges
with Prince Charles, said: "He has a quite extraordinary talent, yet he
has had no formal education or art training.
"His style is very similar to the Pre-Raphaelite artists - but when we
travelled to see him, it became clear he had not heard of Constable,
Turner or even Rembrandt."
Ramon's nearest city is 300 miles away. There are no roads and the
community is accessible only by boat.
His typical dress - like the other indians who live close to the
Aguarico River - includes a hand-painted crown and a necklace of toucan
feathers and berries. Said John: "He has only been painting for four
years. His talent was first discovered by an American anthropologist
who saw him drawing in the sand and gave him four tubes of paints."
"The community there recognised Ramon's talent a long time ago.
"They believe that he has a gift from God."
The competition was launched last January and judged in the State
Apartments at St James's Palace. The top three paintings will be
announced in January. The aim was to encourage artists around the world
to put their impressions of their countries on canvas.
Among the 12 prize-winners is an 18-year-old student from South Korea,
Chang Jee Hui, who entered a self-portrait against a traditional
background and Thai artist Sudjai Chaiyapan, whose painting shows a
surreal landscape littered with human bodies and bones.
Two British artists, Heather Hodgson, of Woodbridge, Suffolk and Stuart
Pearson Wright, of Eastbourne, East Sussex were among the runners-up.
Other exhibits show 50 faces painted onto matchboxes and a Lebanese
couple marrying in traditional dress - with the additional accessory of
a mobile telephone.
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