Omar Rayo Reyes (Roldanillo, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, 1928 – Palmira, Colombia, 2010) was a leading figure in geometric abstraction and Op Art in Colombia and Latin America. A painter, printmaker, sculptor, and caricaturist, he developed a distinctive visual language based on geometry, optical illusion, and a dialogue between international avant-garde movements and pre-Columbian visual traditions.

Rayo began his artistic career as a caricaturist in Colombia. During the 1950s, he traveled throughout Latin America, including Cuba, Guatemala, and Mexico, where he deepened his interest in the geometric forms found in pre-Columbian art and cultures. These investigations contributed to the development of a body of work in which abstraction became closely connected to the visual memory of the Americas.

In Mexico, he studied printmaking techniques and began exploring intaglio, a process that would become an important part of his artistic production. In 1960, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and later settled in New York, where he engaged with international developments in geometric abstraction and Op Art.

Omar Rayo’s artworks are characterized by highly precise compositions in which lines, ribbons, and geometric structures appear to fold, intertwine, or project beyond the pictorial surface. Through contrast, repetition, and perspective, he created illusions of volume and movement that challenge the viewer’s perception.

His visual language also maintained a strong connection with the geometries and symbolic systems of Indigenous cultures of the Americas. This combination of optical experimentation, abstraction, and pre-Columbian references allowed Rayo to develop a distinctive approach within Latin American modern art.

In 1981, he founded the Museo Rayo de Dibujo y Grabado Latinoamericano in his hometown of Roldanillo, an institution dedicated to preserving his legacy and promoting drawing and printmaking by artists from across the region.

Throughout his career, Omar Rayo received major international distinctions, and his works entered public and private collections, including that of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. His exploration of geometry, printmaking, and visual perception established his place as an essential figure in 20th-century Colombian art.