Carlos Granada-Arango

Colombian painter Carlos Granada-Arango died at the age of 82. Born in Honda (Tolima) in 1933, he graduated from the School of Fine Arts of the Universidad Nacional in Bogota, where he earned a teaching degree in painting and drawing. He then completed a specialization in mural painting and engraving at the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid, Spain. Professor and director of the Museo de Arte and Art Department of the Universidad Nacional, in 1972 Granada-Arango founded Taller 4 Rojo with Umberto Giangrandi, Nirma Zarate and Diego Arango. In 1963 he won First Prize at the 15th Salon of Colombian Artists with the work entitled Solo con su Muerte (Only with His Death), a piece that alluded to the violence in his country. His impressionistic paintings focused on representing social, political and sexual themes through crude and striking images that confronted viewers with the reality in Colombia. Some of his most emblematic paintings include works from the series "The Color of Life, the Color of Death" presented at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Bogota in 1976. In 1990 he was named Professor Emeritus at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. During his artistic career Carlos Granada-Arango presented solo exhibitions in Spain, Mexico, Cuba, Argentina and the US. His most recent exhibition took place in 2014 at the Galería Alonso Garcés.