Iván Navarro  (Chilean, 1972) 

Ivan Navarro (Chilean, b.1972) is a world-renowned sculptor, who was born in Santiago, Chile. He obtained his BA in Fine Arts from the University of Chile in Santiago, Chile. He has contributed to the post-punk movement by using cold neon light as his medium. One of his most notable works is Red and Blue Electric Chair, which is Navarro's interpretation of a common chair. It features a frame constructed of purple neon tubes.

When Navarro was a baby, there was a great deal of political corruption in Chile. Many political dissidents were taken from their homes and never heard from again. Navarro grew up with the fear that he would disappear like these individuals. He began using light in his sculptures as a symbol of hope and truth. His inspiration comes from everyday objects, such as shopping carts, ladders, doors, and chairs. At first glance, his pieces look fun, with bright colors and common shapes. If you look deeper into the images, you get a glimpse of Navarro's own psychological anxiety. In one unfinished series entitled The Edge, his inspiration is the simplicity of a door. When you peer into the glass in the door, the neon creates an illusion of a portal that goes on forever. One of Navarro's earlier works, You Sit, You Die, was his version of the electric chair. It was constructed of white fluorescent lights. The Chilean government used electricity as a means of torture. Included on the chair, he wrote the names of every individual that had been executed in the state of Florida by electric chair. The joints of the chair were tied together with shoelaces, which was an item that the prison took away out of fear that the prisoners would hang themselves.

Navarro's works have been exhibited in many Fine Art galleries and museums across the globe, including the North Dakota Museum of Modern Art in Grand Forks, the Millennium Museum in Beijing, China, the Archill Gallery in Aukland, New Zealand, and the 27/7 Gallery in London, England. Navarro currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.