For writer Rachel Grace Almeida, this softly hued countryside scene, by Venezuelan painter Bárbaro Rivas, serves as deeply significant reminder of a version of home. From an early age, Almeida, who was also born and raised in Venezuela, was forced to confront difficult questions of class and inequality, she explains in her feature for our This Artwork Changed My Life column. With paintings like this—a simple, lovingly rendered depiction of an impoverished and dangerous neighbourhood in the outskirts of Caracas—Rivas created “a language that could be understood by everyone”, Almeida writes, “and crucially, he gave me the tools to understand my own complicated identity”. Read the full story here.
