“It is my opportunity as an artist and ultimately my responsibility as a human being to convey an important social message to the rest of the world.”
Rinaldo Klas is an artist whose work reflects his deep concern for nature and the environment. Educated first in Suriname at the ‘Nieuwe School voor Beeldende Kunsten’ and subsequently in Jamaica at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Rinaldo has also gained extensive work and/or artist-in-residence experience in the Netherlands, China, the USA, French Guiana, and also at the Tembe Art Studio (TAS) in Moengo, Suriname. Before his retirement in 2014, Rinaldo was the director of the Nola Hatterman Art Academy in Paramaribo and also the chairman of the FVAS (Federation of Visual Artists in Suriname).
With his work Rinaldo Klas urges all of mankind to live in respectful harmony with nature. He does so by creating colorful compositions with acrylic paint on canvas or on paper, in which man, animals and nature are peacefully intertwined. Rinaldo Klas considers it his responsibility as an artist and a human being, to convey an important social message to the rest of the world. In addition to his environmentally inspired figurative paintings, Rinaldo Klas is also known to create striking abstract art works on canvas as well as on paper.
2019 was a busy year for the artist as he spent several months in French Guiana as an artist in residence in St Laurent du Maroni, and also had a large exhibition at Readytex Art Gallery in collaboration with Dutch artist Maartje Jaquet.