Galo Galecio

Galo Galecio Taranto (June 1, 1906 in Vinces – April 14, 1993 in Quito) was a prominent Ecuadorian painter, muralist, sculptor, caricaturist, and printmaker, whose work is known for its political content and recurring theme of Afro-Latin American life and culture.

He studied at the Guayaquil School of Fine Arts and as a young artist became politicized against Ecuador's conservative governments and the arts establishment, joining the Alere Flamman anti-fascist group in 1935 and the Group of Independent Artists and Writers in 1938. As a member of the opposition Alianza Democrática Ecuatoriana, he participated in the movement that deposed the government of Carlos Arroyo del Río in May 1944.

He then created his first print portfolio Bajo la linea del Ecuador (Below the Line of the Equator), a series of 31 woodcut engravings he produced while at the TGP, published in 1946 by La Estampa Mexicana with a prologue by TGP founder Leopoldo Méndez.