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Under the "skin" of ARTBO 2018
26October
EventsArtBo

Under the "skin" of ARTBO 2018

Walked the wide corridors of the ARTBO Art Fair in Bogotá, with a scrutinizing look, trying to unravel "under" the skin of the hundreds of works, of countless artists from all corners of the world, their stories, realities, dreams, life and imaginations, was, at the end of the journey, beyond a cultural and spiritual enrichment, logical of contact with ART, an archaeological finding that opened our knowledge.

Discovered, in the depth of the work, the main idea of the artist, the key that showed us its creative mazes and its truth, was like to reach the light. Especially when many of them brought us traces of our identity, with reflexive tints, where intelligence, talent, creativity come together as a whole to give us that kind of compass that shows us the way, they taught us who we are, where we came from and where we must continue ...

For the tour, this wide year, clear, minimal, where you could appreciate / enjoy the works exhibited with more clarity of vision, the eyes suddenly stumbled with visual "gifts" that made us feel. And an intense and silent dialogue began between one and the work. Amen of the elegance that characterized in the time, to the stand of the gallery The Museum / gallery Fernando Pradilla (Colombia / Spain), the quality of the work shown is also of high artistic flight. In this vibe stood out a work of a creator who always catches the attention of the viewer: Nadín Ospina.

With a natural talent and intelligence, since the 80s, the pop artist, born in 1960, brought creations where history (past and present), humor, irony and art come together in a unique way. The first impression before his work was of confusion, then came the reflection ...

They were those allegorical figures to the pre-Columbian cultures, carved in stones, or wood, that with much irony transformed or "dressed" with other arrivals of the popular American culture: Mickey Mouse, the Simpsons, the Pluto dog -our work in matter. With that, apparently simple and even sympathetic work, Nadín Ospina, put in the decade of the 80, of the last century the finger in the wound. To make us think, art through, about a reality that hits us: the culture of our indigenous ancestors, foundation of our Latin American identity, is overwhelmingly invaded / trampled by other cultures from the North.

 

Nadin Ospina

 

Latin American essence of Fernando de Szyszlo

A Latin American teacher, the Peruvian Fernando de Szyszlo (1925-2017), sculptor and painter, one of the most outstanding names of the vanguard of his country, and a fundamental figure of abstract art on the continent, throughout his life and work, abstract, in a huge percentage, embraced the essence of our art, being a defender of our Latin American culture.

Making an X-ray of his creations, some of them (paintings), rest on the walls of the stand of the Sextante gallery (Colombia), one feels that the lyricism of the tones, sprinkled with textural effects and the mastery of light handling, they are primordial keys of his prolific work, since he painted and exhibited until the end of his days, beyond the years. By identifying strongly, since its inception, the communicating vessels of pre-Columbian cultures with the contemporary saying, Szyszlo's art exposes a vast knowledge that comes from varied strata: philosophical, scientific and literary.

In his paintings, which he exhibited from 1947 until shortly before his death -the last exhibition of the artist was organized, precisely by this Colombian gallery directed by Luis Ángel Parra-, there are many evocations of myths, rituals of the ancestors, as well as other close to our beautiful and rich geography. In brushstrokes / gestures of seas and deserts are warned and associated with some sacred sites of pre-Hispanic cultures, as indelible traces of love and pride that the famous creator professed for our Latin-American culture.

As in an endless film, the nourishing sap of our art, walks through the creative imaginations of many artists in this Fair, beyond generations and time, because ARTBO is also a vital sign that takes the pulse, each year in this month of October, of Latin American creations, even arriving beyond the borders of the continent, all carrying that print that brings us together.

See: A look at gender identity proposes ARTBO