Born in 1978 in San José, Costa Rica, Federico Herrero pursued painting at the Pratt Institute in New York between 1997 and 1998. From 2001 onwards, he has executed projects across various countries including Canada, Costa Rica, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Although Federico Herrero’s work diverges from Latin America’s Conceptual, muralist, and geometric abstraction norms, it echoes elements from these traditions. His pieces frequently feature vibrant color patches, otherworldly figures, and isolated eyes, showcasing his intrigue with transcending conventional limits. Demonstrating this blend of public and private realms, Herrero once scattered miniature paintings across his hometown in an installation named “Fictional Publicity” (2000); while some remained untouched for days, others disappeared within moments. Furthermore, at the Havana Biennial in 2003, he challenged national confines by painting a mappa mundi on the floor of a public swimming pool, inviting Cuban swimmers to envision global journeys.
His artworks have been showcased in several group exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale: Plateau of Humankind (2001); Havana Biennial (2003); Diverse Ways of Happiness at the Aichi World Expo in Nagoya, Japan (2005); Interrogating Systems: CIFO Grants and Commissions Exhibition at the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation in Miami (2008); Play with Me at the Museum of Latin American Art in Los Angeles (2012); and On Painting at the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain (2013). Additionally, in 2001, he clinched the Special Prize for a Young Artist at the Venice Biennale.