Pro Bono

Denis Berríos, Honduran visual artist, painter and muralist. He was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on February 11, 1986. At 17 years old he graduated from the National School of Fine Arts; he participated in his first collective exhibition in 2003, starting his professional career as an exhibitor of his paintings. In the year 2010, he created the project ART3 D-BARRIO, where he uses a participative methodology creating collective murals in public and private spaces with all kinds of pictorial materials and recycled materials, educating, transforming and recovering spaces through art.

Graciela Cruz, Partner of García & Bodán and Director of the Intellectual Property practice in Honduras, creates an Alliance via Pro Bono with Denis Berríos whom she met at an art exhibition organized by Mujeres Rotario. The painter’s works have their own style and show a mixture of cubism and impressionism that left her with a strong interest in getting to know the artist whom she visited in her workshop “Hablemos de Arte” located in Valle de Angeles. In this visit she was impressed with all the works and talent of the artist; and between conversations of his works and others she asked him if his work was protected and he answered surprised and confused with a question “how so” since the subject of Copyright and Intellectual Property is totally unknown to him, as well as to many artists, athletes or entrepreneurs in Honduras.

Graciela Cruz offered him an alliance to strengthen his projects to incorporate art in communities strongly affected by poverty in Honduras, and to begin the work of protecting his work, an offer he accepted with great interest. The work will consist of compiling high quality photographs that reflect the excellent work of the painter to register them with the office of the General Directorate of Intellectual Property – Administrative Office of Copyright, recovery of the history of his works of more than 13 years in his professional career to complete the catalogs of Records of Artistic Works, preparation of Certificates of Authenticity of his works to share them with his national and foreign clients, preparation of contracts for the assignment of patrimonial rights, and the updating of everything related to the ART3 D-BARRIO organization under which the artist Berríos trains and socializes art to new artists, some of these wonderful works can be appreciated in the murals, some in prestigious hotels.

This project is a new world to know and explore for the exercise of our practice as an Intellectual Property department in Honduras – “we will no longer only register works, but also advise artists and athletes to generate business, for them and for us”, explains Graciela Cruz.

On September 28, 2019 in Valle de Ángeles, Dennis Berríos presented his collection “Myths and Legends of Honduras” in Café Leyenda in homage to the Honduran writer Jorge Montenegro, where negotiations began for a contract with the owners of the coffee store who wish to buy this first collection of Myths and turn it into articles that will be put on sale in that establishment. Negotiations will begin in mid-October 2019.

Likewise, Graciela Cruz had the honor of being invited to join the Association of Mountain Artists that is made up of the communities surrounding Valle de Angeles as legal advisor. Finally, at the same event, Graciela was invited by the Curator of the Museum of the Central Bank of Honduras to visit the exhibition that the Bank has and “review” the projects in which they can collaborate.