COLOMBIA WAR ART - APERTURA COLOMBIA

A survey of Colombian photography and video featuring 14 Colombian artists and photojournalists.

The works of art in this exhibition go beyond simple reportage or exposé. They document the events and emotional turmoil caused by terror, exclusion and loss. They demonstrate the artist's ability to come to grips with the violent modern history of Colombia and transform this history into a positive source of truth and regeneration.
Jesús Abad Colorado's award-winning photographs serve as testimonials to the despair, resilience and strength of those caught in the vicious maelstrom of violence that has encompassed Colombia recent history. Miguel Ángel Rojas, one of the masters of contemporary photography, loaned works from his major retrospective in the capitol city, Bogotá, which examines the effects of Colombia's narco- wars on its people and landscape. The equally significant Luis Fernando Peláez, combines photography and sculpture together in poetic works of art that dig into the deepest aspects of memory. Juan Fernando Herrán's solemn photographs reveal hidden memorials that commemorate the slaughter of innocents with simply constructed crosses.
Juan Manuel Echavarria's "Monumentos" series serves as a poignant response to tragedy, taking its inspiration from W.H. Auden's poem "Beaux des Arts". María Elvira Escallón's series, "Desede Adentro"investigates the aftermath of a devastating act of violence and the ephemeral human presence that remains. In his "Short Wave" series, François Bucher journey's through the detritus of a drug lord's abandoned home. Internationally acclaimed artist, Óscar Muñoz's images categorically chart human loss or disappearance. A seminal figure of video art in Colombia, José Alejandro Restrepo's installation deals with issues of myth and national history.
Libia Posada questions the history of violence towards women. In the genre of l8th and l9th century portraiture, contemporary abused women are depicted in company with and in contrast to traditional portraits of men of that era. The video and photography of Luigi Baquero offers a sobering look into the internal refugee crisis that has subjected the lives of millions of Columbians to abject poverty. Luz Elena Castro's project "Faces of Colombia"presents intimate portraits of Colombian life. Andres Sierra's erotically charged "Karma Sutra" project is a powerful metaphor for Colombia's ongoing tragedy. Jaime Ávila's "Banderas negras" is a symbolic triptych that depicts the complicity between United States and foreign governments.
The artists in APERTURA COLOMBIA are engaged in transgressing the tumultuous history of their country, in particular, the experience of living under conditions of perpetual war and terrorism. Further, they are works of universal import, created by gifted artists who are uniquely suited to understand and interpret the radical zeitgeist of the 21st Century.

APERTURA COLOMBIA will be on view from March 8th, through May 18th.

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Part 3