¿qué es rombo?
rombo is an art & design platform, studio, and gallery for artists and designers of underrepresented backgrounds. It was founder by artist and architect Diego Salazar, and is run by a team with deep roots and a passion for art & design. Our mission is to serve as ambassadors to unheard & emerging artists whom we consider to be truly unique.
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Amongst our wildest dreams is to help create a new golden age of art, where merit and hard work are rewarded more fairly. This is just the start of a long journey but we believe wholeheartedly that we can make a change. As we grow, we plan on becoming an art foundation, using funds from art sales and fundraising events to give back to the same artists and communities where the art is being made. Giving back will be in the form of donating important tools to our artists, as well as improvements to their workshops and homes, and eventually being able to design, fund, and build necessary civic projects in these communities that contribute positively to their prosperity.
We begin our journey in Mexico, where Diego was born and raised, and where we believe there to be incredible amounts of unrecognized and undervalued artists that work far too hard to make ends meet. Many of these artists are hidden amongst artisanal families all over Mexico and it is our mission to find as many as we can, helping to guide them towards recognition and financial stability. We will do this by representing their work through our platform, collaborating, and introducing them and their art to the greater global market, as well as to other artists and designers around the world, allowing for a higher-than-fair pay compared to their local economy. Additionally, we intend in doing anything we can to continue to foster art in their communities.
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Our goal is not only to promote artists' work, but to help them grow and evolve, challenging them with our own ideas and understanding of their talent. Simultaneously, we want to open a world of possibilities for collectors, businesses, and lovers of art alike, to access fantastic works of art for their home, business, or for the pure joy of experiencing art.
Each artist and piece of work is carefully selected and curated by our team. Using video, photography, and 3D software, we shed a light on the artist's story and give art enthusiasts a unique personal experience.
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Our success is the artists' success.
our aspirations
Our focus now is to build a great art and design platform. We will do this by focusing on three main objectives.
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Discovery and Representation.
We will search for talented artists across Mexico, and eventually beyond, and invite them to be part of our platform. This phase is about providing the proper representation of the human lives that are behind beautiful works of art. We will introduce you to them by means of video interviews, biographies, and stories by the artists themselves.
We believe it is of upmost importance to have an educational side to our platform, so that our visitors may learn about these amazing artists, where they are from, and about the process of their artform. We hope it also serves as a way to teach and inspire new artists.
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Collaboration.
Diego Salazar is a rising artist like everyone we hope to represent. In 2021, he had his debut exhibition in New York City showcasing his own work, as well as over 30 collaborations with 14 Mexican artists. We have many more exhibitions planned and, by collaborating with other artists, we provide an opportunity for Mexican artists to exhibit in the United States, Europe, and beyond, helping them build recognition and wealth.
We have and shall provide higher-than-fair compensation to each artist involved. There shall be no consignments or IOU's, work is always compensated upfront. Any commissioned piece is priced by the artist and paid by the company in full. Our commitment is then to exhibit that piece and give 10% of the final sale back to the artist. As we find success and stability, we will increase this percentage as much as we can.
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Customization.
Our final objective is a combination of the previous two. We will introduce our platform of artists to business owners, private clients, and collectors alike, for the option of creating custom-made pieces especially made for their home or business. If you represent a hotel, restaurant, design firm, or simply interested in having our work in your business, you can reach out to us via our contact page.
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our endgame
Our dream is to one day design, build, and direct a School of Arts that is free to the public. It is to be built in Mexico City and staffed with the best teachers we can find from a lifetime of connecting, representing. and working with artists and designers.
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The school would be loosely based on the New York-based Cooper Union and its free-tuition model, with a four-to-five year college-level education program to all who are accepted. The college will be made of four major schools: Visual Arts, Literature, Music, and Dance. Together, the Schools will be responsible for putting together one Theatrical Play per year, to be performed for the city. Additionally, students would be required to give free classes to people of all ages across Mexico City's many neighborhoods using Mobile Classrooms designed by Studio Rombo.
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"The era of the solitary genius must come to an end. The era of the collaborative genius must begin."
- Lebbeus Woods