José Manuel Saavedra—known in the art world as KADASH—is a Chilean visual artist with a multidisciplinary background and a nomadic spirit. He has developed a body of work rich in cultural references, mixed media, and visual appropriations that engage in a dialogue with the legacy of German Expressionism and contemporary Pop Art.
Initially educated at the historic Instituto Nacional de Chile, he continued his studies at the prestigious UWC of the Atlantic in the United Kingdom, where he already stood out for his versatile perspective and commitment to critical thinking.
His artistic training was consolidated under the mentorship of painter Anna Kell at Bucknell University (Pennsylvania, USA), thanks to a scholarship that allowed him to delve deeper into painting, specifically in oil and acrylic techniques. Later, he earned a degree in Applied Engineering from the Universidad de Santiago de Chile—a background that infuses his work with a productive tension between the physical sciences and expressive chaos.
José has traveled extensively, collecting not only landscapes and memories, but also gestures, symbols, and visual discourses that reappear in his work through appropriation and resignification. He has ventured into multiple mediums—including painting, sculpture, printmaking, and video—with a technical freedom that reflects his eclectic educational background.
His visual language is heavily influenced by figures such as: Keith Haring, Pablo Picasso, Lucian Freud, Jenny Saville, Sarah Sze, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.
These dissimilar aesthetics converge in a production marked by the physicality of the body, expressive gesture, and symbolic density.
His pieces have been acquired by educational institutions and NGOs in the United States, and form part of private collections in Hong Kong, Europe, and North America. He currently works out of his studio located in Villa Alemana, Valparaíso, where he continues to develop a vibrant, hybrid, and deeply contemporary body of work.
©José Manuel Saavedra 2026