ABSTRACCIÓN EN COLOMBIA

A tour of the main abstract pieces from the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Bogotá.

By Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá

Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá

Las Siete Puertas (1965) by Leonel EstradaMuseum of Contemporary Art Bogotá

INFORMALISM

artistic trend, especially painting, very close to abstraction, which is distinguished by a more categorical line abandonment and as defined and the use of unconventional materials like fabric, sand, fragments of found objects or textures.

Formas Para Copiar la Luna, David Manzur, 1966, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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It is time that the pictures tend to lose their flatness and become almost reliefs; Informalism influences, searches matter and to harmonize the picture layer are constant in the work of Manzur.
The moon, a goal of the conquest of space, becomes the protagonist with a series of overlapping planes that stand out against the rest of the surface, it is a sequence of motion when moving over the sky.

Serie San Victorino, Mutantes, Carlos Rojas, 1990, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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Separate objects may seem garbage or waste, but united take on new meaning which is set in the mind of the observer. Language, increasingly straightforward to communicate through shapes, textures and volumes.

La idea vino del mar, Cecilia Ordóñez, 2002, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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The colors and textures from the seabed are the source of inspiration and reference for this work.

Cosas y también la manzana, Beatriz Daza, 1965, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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Cans, shards of pottery, porcelain tableware, plaster and sand are combined to form a work in which three-dimensional relief and mix.

Jardin Al Amanecer, Cristobal Schlenker, 1993, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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A mosaic to contemporary way, you can say that your reference are the pixels, as if he had used a filter to sift the landscape.

Balanza, Edelmira Boller, 1976, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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Scrap iron and wood come together in this where the concept raw informalista sculpture on the representation.

Paisaje Coralino (1999) by Jorge RiverosMuseum of Contemporary Art Bogotá

GEOMETRIC ABSTRACTION

This trend is characterized by a clear geometric rigor, his compositions are based on the triangle, circle and square, and its derivative forms, rhombus, rectangle, crescent, etc.

Mandala, Gustavo Vejarano, 2006, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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Fragments of handmade paper colored with natural dyes come together to set up a geometric mandala.

Cruzadas, Manolo Vellojín, 1981, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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Raw canvas and black areas and red arranged in a cross refers to the emblem bearing the Crusaders in the Middle Ages.

Macrocromía, Lina Sinisterra, 2009, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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Circles of different sizes and colors are structured in this work that can be cut any microscopic biological element.

Red Black White, Omar Rayo, 1961, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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Black, white and red are the colors that for centuries dominated human creations for the simple reason of being the most accessible, the carbon black, red iron oxide and white lime.
With purely geometric character, juxtaposed planes of color to build the composition; there is a remote connection with Tierradentro hypogea where few elements takes us into an atmosphere of mystery and evocation

Zócalo Numero 7, Ana Durán, 1990, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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The slots in the farmhouses of Colombia are the benchmark for this work which is related to the abstract Informalism.

Catedral policromada, Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar, 1984, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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This is a perfectly harmonious and balanced structure that generates multiple views, the gaps are an integral part of the work and expand their symbolic significance.

Construcción flor, Augusto Ardila, 2006, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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Modulation is a key feature of this work, repetition module emphasizes its volumetric and constructive.

Oriente, John Castles, 2009, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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Minimalism is also part of the abstract tendency and this work is a good example of how the plane could generate volume and visual dynamism with few elements.

Caminos de Viento (1999) by Carlos JacanamijoyMuseum of Contemporary Art Bogotá

BIOMORPHIC ABSTRACTION

Nature has been a constant source of reference for art, biomorphic abstraction appropriates and moved forms of nature in the areas of color, irregular edges and visual textures predominate.

Formas Superpuestas, Manuel Hernández, 1969, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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The vibration of color is what attracts us most when we look at this work, blue and orange are colored by areas of black and gray.
This work is the predecessor of the famous sign that will become ubiquitous in his work with ingenious and creative variations.
Hernandez was able to stand firm in its abstract conviction and developed one of the most consistent work in this field throughout production.

Superficies Magicas, Armando Villegas, 2005, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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Textures, colors, irregular shapes combine this composition is where the plans guide the eyes to discover the details.

Xica la iguana de mi suerte, Angel Loochkart, 1967, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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This work has a marked expressionism in the form of paint application and its composition; without reference includes shapes, colors and very close to the plant structures.

Paisaje 2, Luz Helena Caballero, 1997, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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This is a magnificent example of how the areas of flat color are juxtaposed to synthesize landscape forms.

Escudo para un misterio, Antonio Grass, 1972, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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Inspired by petroglyphs and the black, red and gray colors, a paint informalista is generated with a strong symbolic.

El Guerrero Blanco, Osvaldo Vigas, 1971, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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We can glimpse the influences of Analytical Cubism plans to build by the figure of a warrior, also white, gray and sienna colors reinforce the contrast of the planes.

Las Bodas de Camacho, Augusto Rivera, 1967, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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The filling and gesture of the brushstroke present in this work give priority to the pictorial and chromatic what representative.

Sin Título, Mabel Rivera, 1976, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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With clear references to the plant world, this painting uses color as a fundamental reference that accompanies a dynamic composition.

Pintura # 2, Rosa Sanín, 2005, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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Here dominated areas of irregular and contrasting color reinforce the flatness of the picture.

Abstraction / Abstracción, Arthur Tasko, 1988, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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One could almost say that in this work following a calligraphic brush strokes guideline, a form of abstract writing used as a pretext to compose a space.

Satisfacción, Tina Vallejo, 1972, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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Pottery with its three-dimensional language, allows us to have not only a visual but also tactile perception of the forms emparentan with nature.

Sin título, Elim Dutra, 1989, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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New materials such as fiberglass allow artists to create more flexibility, abstract forms become dynamic, tactile and attractive.

Navegante, Edgar Negret, 1972, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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The space race or the conquest of space was an inspiration for many artists, filmmakers, designers, writers, musicians, architects; spacecraft, forms of planets and galaxies, open your mind to new ways of seeing and interpreting reality.
Abstract sculpture built, one of the leading trends of this decade, in Negret one of its best representatives; this white sailor, made with semicircular modules together with nuts and bolts have a clear reference to a spaceship that crosses Earth's orbit.

Forma, Carmen Wenzel, 1972, From the collection of: Museum of Contemporary Art Bogotá
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Even with traditional materials such as bronze is possible to attribute the flexibility and plasticity found in nature.

Credits: Story

Works from the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Bogotá.

Curatorship, texts and selection: Gustavo A. Ortiz Serrano

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.