![]() ![]() In many cities, the rich and the poor shoulder one other in an enduring yet fraught coexistence. In Colombia, each region has a traditional culture and dialect-there are the costeños, many of whom are Afro-Colombian and Caribbean, from the coast the rolos from Bogotá, the capital the list goes on. Along with reggaeton, this music would follow me throughout high school, family gatherings, and Colombian nightlife.īotero doesn’t depict a specific event, but rather a ritual. He would guide us through the undulations of cumbia, merengue, and bachata. It also evokes memories of my father clearing the living room to teach my sister and me how to dance. It reminds me of the men with accordions who serenade my family with vallenato folk music on New Year’s Eve. While the musicians’ fedoras evoke Argentinian tango, the scene maps the basic components of various Colombian gatherings: paired couples, a group of male musicians. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Anonymous Gift, 1983 (1983.251) © Fernando Boteroīotero’s Dancing in Colombia (1980) at The Met depicts a couple in a lively cafe. Dancing in Colombia, 1980. Oil on canvas 74 × 91 in. The artist-who grew up in Medellín, trained as a bullfighter, and painted Pablo Escobar along with the drug-related violence of the 1990s-says that he paints the “sensuality of form.”įernando Botero (Colombian, born 1932). Fernando Botero is known for his gordos, or fat figures, and the style Boterismo is synonymous with humor and political commentary. I didn’t know the artist at the time, although he’s one of the most famous Colombian artists in the world. ![]() The figures looked so heavy they seemed to weigh down on the canvas, yet so inflated they might levitate into the sky. ![]() The second poster reinterpreted the Mona Lisa, her swollen face pleating gently into her neck. ![]() Above the cases of corn cakes, empanadas, and postre de natas hung two framed posters: One depicted a nude woman facing a mirror, her back as wide as the bathroom stall. The first time I saw a painting by a Colombian artist was at a restaurant in Miami. From landscapes to urban scenes, tapestries to golden artifacts, each object reveals a fragment of Colombia’s spirit. A quick survey of these objects recall myths of golden treasures, mythological underworlds, and memories of childhood and everyday life. Bache, 1974, 1977 (1974.271.59)Īfter international outlets reported on civil unrest and police brutality in early 2021, I searched The Met’s collection to see what other stories of Colombia the Museum’s art could tell. (3.8 × 5.6 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift and Bequest of Alice K. It was also the day I realized the extent to which contemporary Colombian art and design is inspired by the country’s diversity and past.Įar Ornaments. This was the first time I’d seen Colombian art in a museum outside of the country. While my earrings had been crafted by an artisan in Bogotá, the pair at The Met was made thousands of years ago by the Zenú people in the Caribbean lowlands of Colombia. I would later see a nearly identical pair in The Met’s collection of ancient American art: curved half moons with tendrils spread like sun rays and thinly woven metal braids. Two years ago, my sister gifted me a pair of earrings. ![]()
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