Antonio Marquez was born on January 1, 1958 in the city of Chala, in the southern Peruvian state of Arequipa. He studied... painting and graduated in Fine Arts at the Fine Arts Academy in Rome, Italy.

Marquez describes his work as Neofigurative, for his paintings feature objects with real shapes in a process of transformation, without becoming abstract. For the past 20 years he has dedicated his life exclusively to the arts, motivated by a desire to communicate with the environment that surrounds him. Painting is for him a form of expression and through his work he aspires to express his feelings, reflections, and sentiment.

Marquez' work has been on exhibition throughout Peru as well as in Italy's Veneto region. He also received Honorary Mentions in contests organized by the Peruvian-North American Cultural Institute and The International Fair of the Pacific, in Lima. Marquez now occupies his time between painting and teaching Fine Arts at Lima's Art Museum.

"The biggest challenge in life," admits Marquez, "is to be creative by profession in the artistic and social field, and to be truly innovative. I wish for people to see through Novica a Peruvian artist that expresses the historical and multicultural amplitude of a nation."