The best-known name in Colombian art over the past decade is arguably that of visionary artist Doris Salcedo. Salcedo’s work Shibboleth, a 167-metre-long crack in the foundation of the Turbine Hall, graced the Tate Modern in 2007. The work was not only immensely well received and engaging but also spoke to a larger conversation about immigration and segregation and racial discrimination happening at the time—a discussion which is very much still prevalent today.
It’s the want for conversation, and a fearlessness about speaking one’s mind, which feels like a defining trait of Colombian art at large. Colombia is a country which has had to endure more than it’s fair share of turmoil over the past few decades, but if anything good has come of the bad, it’s that a new generation of bright, daring and talented artists have emerged and are ready to take the world by storm.
Photo: Aaron Davidson / Getty.
One woman doing her bit to celebrate and promote the wonders of contemporary Colombian art is Beatriz Esguerra. Beatriz Esguerra Art, the namesake gallery of which Esguerra is the director, opened in 2000. Since then, the gallery and Esguerra both have worked tirelessly to promote and celebrate Colombian artists on the world stage.
The gallery is passionate about creating a dialogue between Colombian and international artists through curated exhibitions which explore universal themes. Those efforts have been helped by the gallery’s showings in the United States, and their participation in various art fairs.
One such art fair exhibition was recently on display at the Museo Vault Exhibition Space during Miami Art Week. Called Resounding Subtleties, the show celebrated the work of eight incredibly talented contemporary Colombian artists.
Photo: Aaron Davidson / Getty.
The artists featured in the exhibition were Max Steven Grossman, Mario Arroyave, Carlos Alarcon, Teresa Currea, Pablo Posada, Luis Carlos Tovar, Santiago Uribe-Holguin, and Carol Young. The artworks on show included sculptures and installation works, photography and constructed photography, abstract works made using sand and marble dust, glassworks, works with paper, and diorama-like suspended box works.
I recently had the chance to chat with Beatriz Esguerra about her Miami Art Week exhibition Resounding Subtleties, Colombian art, and much, much more:
To start with, can you give us a brief background on Colombian Art and what people should know about the contemporary Colombian Art industry?
Colombian art is one of the world’s best-kept secrets, which people are now beginning to discover. Colombian art is a product of a geographically, historically and culturally rich and diverse country. Artists are inspired and influenced not only by our constantly changing reality, but also by the varied regions, customs and histories that result from a complex geography including jungles, mountain ranges, snow capped peaks and extensive plains.
Colombia is a country of passions, magical realism, beauty, humour and openness. All of this comes through in our artists’ works.
What’s unique about Colombian art?
Colombian art is unique in its richness and the intelligence and analysis that each artist expresses through their work. Each artist and piece has a need to share with the rest of the world the fantastic secret of what Colombia is.
Photo: Aaron Davidson / Getty.
Tell us about ‘Resounding Subtleties’, the exhibition of Colombian art you recently curated during Miami Art Week at the ‘Museo Vault Exhibition Space’.
Colombia is a “Resounding Subtlety.” It is quietly shouting to be discovered and to share its wonders – that was the main theme we chose for this show. It’s one of the art world’s best-kept secrets. The works, highly sophisticated in form and content, discreetly and tastefully present powerful messages that concern not only Colombia but the world.
What was the curation process, as far as picking and choosing the talent for the exhibition? Are all of the artists established, or were there up-and-comers featured as well?
We chose a group of artists, mostly mid to long career (the gallery mostly works with these types of artists), that aesthetically and inspirationally fit under the exhibit’s theme. Additionally, we chose them and exhibited them in a way that created dialogues amongst the works.
Photo: Aaron Davidson / Getty.
And speaking of the plethora of exciting talent on show in ‘Resounding Subtleties’; are there any artists we should be watching? Because over the past few years especially, it feels like Colombian art has exploded and the rest of the industry is now watching with interest.
I believe the whole group should be watched. The quality of the gallery’s artists is impeccable and they all offer works that take the observer into fascinating worlds and provide dialogues with the public.
Carol Young is the most important of the group due to her long career. Santiago Uribe-Holguin, Max Steven Grossman, and Pablo Posada are mid-career, and Mario Arroyave, Teresa Currea, Luis Carlos Tovar and Carlos Alarcon are the youngest of the group. Each has fascinating stories to tell and have excellent backgrounds to support their careers.
Can you tell us about some, two or three, pieces from the show which are particularly notable or have interesting backstories?
Photo: Aaron Davidson / Getty.
Carol Young’s “Archive” Series
Using ceramic as her primary medium, Carol Young’s installations and sculptures transcend standard perception of the material, creating work that is unique, challenging and beautiful. Her recent investigation explores the realms of memory, history and our conceptions of paper. Carol Young’s installations evoke these subliminal memories through dialogue with the emptiness and freshness of a blank page. Drawing on an image that may refer to an ancient library composed of paper and parchment, her work conjures up the sign-filled archive of the many individual moments of experience — unknown and hidden information that yearns to be classified, reviewed and studied.
Carol Young has shown her work throughout Colombia and Latin America and has received numerous honours and prizes. Young’s most recent group exhibition, “Ceramix,” curated by Camille Morineau and devoted to the use of ceramic by artists in the 20th and21 centuries, was exhibited in Maastricht (Bonnefantenmuseum) from October 2015 through February 2016 and will be on view in Paris (Maison Rouge) and Sèvres (Cité de la céramique) from March through June 2016.
Undo Works by Luis Carlos Tovar, centre. Photo: Aaron Davidson / Getty.
Luis Carlos Tovar “Undo” Series
Luis Carlos Tovar explores, reconstructs and questions time, space, identity and memory. Employing different media such as drawing, painting, in situ installations, photography and video, allows him to include ephemeral space interventions within his artistic practice. His work consistently investigates the collective memories of migrant social groups, and he relies heavily upon field research conducted through workshops and personal relationships with those recorded in his work.
The photographic series “Undo” is a visual inventory of over 50.000 photographs that were taken in 2015 at the Colegio General Santander in Bogota. More than 300 students, parents and teachers, forcefully migrated to another school and registered their thoughts, protests and memories through texts and drawings, on a 1935 blackboard. The artist shows a clear and focused image of these drawings and a ghostlike image of those who render them, implying that it is the collective memories that will remain through history, while those rendering them are simply passing elements.
Luis Carlos Tovar is a young artist and photographer who recently was awarded the IILA Photography prize in Rome and is now exhibiting his work at the Museum of Contemporary art in this same city.
Photo: Aaron Davidson / Getty.
Mario Arroyave “Time Line” Series
Using Muybridge’s photographic experiment (which contributed to the creation of film) as a starting point, Mario Arroyave constructs sequences of images, captured at controlled intervals of time, and inserts them in a fixed photographed space. This creates the notion of temporality, where the actors wander in a contradictory state of static time.
Through Mario Arroyave’s photographs, it is possible to understand the concept of temporal dimension, how the world is immersed in it and how simple life actions become important when we record them in photographs and keep them as visual documents.
In this manner the artist constructs timelines of real life events, creating an impossible, which in turn demonstrates the futility of the moment and of how objects and human beings mutate within it.
Mario is a young photographer and artist who has attracted much attention from collectors, institutions and the press.
How was the response to the exhibition?
The response to the exhibit was extremely positive. The tightness of the curation, the aesthetics, the way the works were exhibited to create dialogue among them and their individual contents and messages created a fascinating exhibit which everyone appreciated and enjoyed.
Photo: Aaron Davidson / Getty.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you find your way into the art industry?
My house and family were always art appreciators and occasional collectors, therefore I was always in contact with it from a young age. When I left for college I decided to study art history at Middlebury College in Vermont. After graduation, I returned to Colombia and initially worked in several museums, then was the editor of the magazine of the Museum of Modern Art in Bogota, and then I worked in Museology and Museography at the Gold Museum and the Bank of the Republic Museum in Bogota.
After a few years, I opened an art consulting firm with an associate. In the year 2000, I opened my own gallery space Beatriz Esguerra Art, and have been working and evolving the gallery ever since.
In short, I have a passion for what I do and have dedicated more than 30 years of constant work to this career.
What’s the aim, or the mission, of the gallery?
To enrich lives through art with integrity and professionalism.
Photo: Aaron Davidson / Getty.
How do you see Colombia’s place in the global art industry growing and developing over the next five to ten years?
I think that with the effort of all of us involved in the Colombian art scene, our participation in international art fairs and exhibits, the implementation of a new peace process that will make the country safer for people to travel to, and our historically strong and long democracy, Colombia’s art scene can only grow exponentially. Collectors, curators and museums have begun discovering it, but we need to get the word out – the quality of the art is outstanding and the prices are still very reasonable.
What would you say to someone who is interested in learning more about Colombian Art?
I would suggest reading about our artists, history and current news, visiting the country, and of course visiting Bogota during our art week in October. ARTBO is Colombia’s main art fair, and there are other smaller satellite fairs worth visiting.
What’s next for you and ‘Beatriz Esguerra Art’?
Continuing to work hard to promote my artists and my country, opening up new markets, and educating international curators, collectors and institutions on the wonders of Colombian art.
Photo: Aaron Davidson / Getty.
Many thanks to Beatriz for taking the time to chat with us.
You can find more information about any of the artists mentioned, as well as many more, over at the Beatriz Esguerra Art website.
If you’re interested in purchasing or learning more about any of the artworks featured in Resounding Subtleties, head on over to the exhibition page on artsy.com.
