Born and raised in Caracas from 1978 to 1994, Rodrigo had to move to Switzerland with his family for political reasons. He studied and worked in Geneva until 2013 before moving to Italy to pursue his research in painting.
As an italo-venezuelan artist, with a multicultural background and education, Rodrigo considers himself a citizen of the world. His experience in creation spreads widely. He started expressing himself through different art forms since a very young age (from music to plastic arts). He undertook for 12 years a successful career as rapper/singer, interpreter and producer in Switzerland, travelling around the world for shows, while always painting on the side. Since 2012, he has dedicated most of his work to painting. Concerned with the social and political evolutions of world affairs, he has become one of the most relevant dissident artist in the world, defending human rights through his artistic work.
In 2014, he painted “Batalla”, a piece that depicted student protests in Venezuela. The piece became very popular and draw interest from the general public and the expert community. The BBC published it as one of the most representative drawings of the year. It won the international Alfonso Grassi art price (Salerno, Italy). Rodrigo’s notoriety boomed, along with his growing influence on social media on topics related to human rights and political issues in Venezuela. He has been finger-pointed by the regime as a wanted militant artist.
In 2015, one of his pieces was added to the Human Rights Foundation's libertarian art collection by Thor Halvorssen in person. That same year, another painting was added to the Annibale Berlingieri private art collection. Rodrigo also got recognition from the Regione Basilicata in Italy (where he lives), which formally considers his work as a cultural interest for the region. Prominent people all over the world such as Leopoldo Lopez, Luisa Ortega Diaz and Luis Almagro own a piece from Rodrigo.
After holding several successful exhibits in Switzerland and Italy, Rodrigo held his first in-pro-field level exhibit at the prestigious Miami River Art Fair (winter 2015), and was displayed at Nina Torres Fine Art Gallery in Miami (spring 2016).
2017 was particularly significant : two new pieces about the protests in Venezuela that occurred in April and May crystallised his reputation, as an upcoming international contemporary artist. That year, Rodrigo’s work was exposed at the “Art Montreux” fair and at the prestigious "Rogue Space Chelsea" Gallery in New York during the "Art in Protest : Creative dissent" collective exhibit organised by the Human Rights Foundation. An occasion to exchange with top political and militant artists of the world. Rodrigo aims to create art not only as a means of self-expression but as a tool to confront the realities of today’s world.
Along with artistically documenting current affairs in Venezuela, Rodrigo paints modernity as it unfolds in today’s connected world : from the fight of Kurdish women, to the issues raised by immigration. Contemporary topics he explores with a philosophical and symbolic take, while also working on more intimate works. While being extremely active on social networks and very popular for combining new technologies, art and activism, Rodrigo keeps a very discrete personal life.