17.7 Carlos Blaaker

Carlos Blaaker (1961) is a painter and makes sculptures, installations and tableaux of various materials, such as bronze, synthetic resin, clay, metal and wood. He was born in Suriname and has lived in Curaçao since 2009. Blaaker studied at the Academy of Higher Art and Culture in Paramaribo and subsequently at the Art Students League of New York. Mastering the craft is important to him. A work must be well made, because he sees craftsmanship as a precondition for being able to properly convey an underlying message. Blaaker stands in the tradition of nineteenth-century social realism in painting and sculpture. His models are mostly people from his immediate environment, from the neighborhood where he lives: Otrobanda. His work is socially involved and socially critical.