Big canvases belie a shy artist

IN a contemporary art world awash with cool conceptual art, Andres Barrioquinto's bright and colourful figurative-surrealist paintings come across as an anomaly.

His canvases brim with attention-grabbing patterns, figures and colours, threatening to spill out of the edges of the canvas.

Ironically, the man behind these vivid, animated works is something of a shy recluse. Despite having pieces regularly auctioned off at Christie's and Sotheby's, the 38-year-old appears deeply uncomfortable with fame.