artnexus #105

The art of Nicolás París (Bogotá, 1977) has been characterized by its desire to connect with the community and its drive to reflect on the ways in which we communicate. This is why the development of his educational projects is one of the most significant aspects of his production. The processes of education are one of this artist’s central concerns. Questions like, What and how do we represent? a questioning of all certainties and the avoidance of useless repetitions are all resources for exploring and understanding the spaces around us. For many years after studying architecture París worked with children in a variety of art spaces, teaching them the possibilities offered by drawing, not only as a technique of representation but also, and fundamentally, as a resource for expressing their ideas—which is to say, for communicating. Thus the high value that París places on teaching, which in his view becomes a learning process also for its practitioners. The work on our cover, Constelación (Constellation – detail), was conceived as a kind of classroom, as it allows us to observe the process of change that nature undergoes with the passage of time. Continuity and temporality intertwine in the space created. The lattice or recycled wood presents a series of orifices, small spaces filled with soil where plants grow, which are intervened with “found or lost” objects. “I am very interested in the idea of contemplation, not accumulation,” the artist has said in an interview. “Not to create a series of works in order to justify an exhibition, but to take the time needed to find the relationships between certain ‘objects’ and to build constellations. Since my beginnings as an artist, I have tried to facilitate projects that mediate between curatorial practices and education departments in different institutions, always keeping in mind that art is an instrument and that viewers can always decide what they want to learn.* The work of art is conceived as a place for learning and invites us to articulate new questions, to widen our perspectives for observation on the basis of its proposals. 
 * masdearte.com, May 24, 2017. 

IVONNE PINI