Heard on The StreetMarch 12, 2021
Stamps of Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt, Enrique Grau, Alejandro Obregón, and Cecilia Porras
Personajes Colombianos de Todas las Épocas (Colombian Characters of All Times), series 2021, is an edition of stamps to collect presented by the Ministry of Technologies of Information and Communications and National Postal Services SA, which seeks to commemorate the life and work of six illustrious Colombian persons and highlight their contributions to science, architecture, art, and the humanities.
120,000 stamps will be circulating with the images of: Fernando González Ochoa (writer); Manuel Zapata Olivella (doctor, anthropologist, folklorist and writer); and the artists: Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt, Enrique Grau, Alejandro Obregón and Cecilia Porras. Each stamp will have a value of 500 Colombian pesos.
Cecilia Porras's (1920-1971) works claimed women's participation in the modernization processes in Cartagena and Colombia. She was part of the Grupo Barranquilla and illustrated texts by Gabriel García Márquez and Álvaro Cepeda Samudio. She was also a pioneer of performance in the country and worked as an art lecturer for several years.
Alejandro Obregón (1920-1992), born in Barcelona, Spain, but lived in Barranquilla since he was a child. He focused his paintings on the symbolic, identity, and Colombian themes, with precise approaches to political and social criticism; he is considered a pioneer of modern art in Colombia in the mid-twentieth century.
Enrique Grau (1920-2004), born in Panama, but educated in Colombia, based his artistic work on recognizing the physical characteristics that are the product of ethnic miscegenation. He developed as a painter, draftsman, engraver, film director, photographer, sculptor, and cultural manager. His works influenced art in Cartagena and the region for more than 50 years.
Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt (1919-1995), was a sculptor from Antioquia who produced more than 100 monumental works, 400 sketches and 50 sketchbooks that reflect his closeness to bronze. Among the most representative works is 'El Bolívar desnudo' installed in the Plaza de Bolívar de Pereira, 'El Bolívar Cóndor', a sculpture of 13.5 meters and 25 tons that is found in the Plaza de Bolívar de Manizales and 'Los lanceros del Pantano de Vargas', 33 meters high by 100 wide that was installed in Paipa, Boyacá to commemorate 150 years of independence.
Fernando González Ochoa (1895-1964), Antioquia writer, held important public positions as magistrate and consul. His literary work includes Viaje a pie, Mi Simón Bolívar y La tragicomedia del padre Elías y Martina.
Manuel Zapata Olivella (1920-2004), born in Lorica (Córdoba), is recognized for being an essential figure of the American continent and a national reference in the African culture and heritage diaspora and indigenous imprint in the transformation of society Colombian. He promoted the First Congress of the Black Culture of the Americas in Cali in 1947, which set the foundations in the fight against discrimination and racism.
120,000 stamps will be circulating with the images of: Fernando González Ochoa (writer); Manuel Zapata Olivella (doctor, anthropologist, folklorist and writer); and the artists: Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt, Enrique Grau, Alejandro Obregón and Cecilia Porras. Each stamp will have a value of 500 Colombian pesos.
Cecilia Porras's (1920-1971) works claimed women's participation in the modernization processes in Cartagena and Colombia. She was part of the Grupo Barranquilla and illustrated texts by Gabriel García Márquez and Álvaro Cepeda Samudio. She was also a pioneer of performance in the country and worked as an art lecturer for several years.
Alejandro Obregón (1920-1992), born in Barcelona, Spain, but lived in Barranquilla since he was a child. He focused his paintings on the symbolic, identity, and Colombian themes, with precise approaches to political and social criticism; he is considered a pioneer of modern art in Colombia in the mid-twentieth century.
Enrique Grau (1920-2004), born in Panama, but educated in Colombia, based his artistic work on recognizing the physical characteristics that are the product of ethnic miscegenation. He developed as a painter, draftsman, engraver, film director, photographer, sculptor, and cultural manager. His works influenced art in Cartagena and the region for more than 50 years.
Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt (1919-1995), was a sculptor from Antioquia who produced more than 100 monumental works, 400 sketches and 50 sketchbooks that reflect his closeness to bronze. Among the most representative works is 'El Bolívar desnudo' installed in the Plaza de Bolívar de Pereira, 'El Bolívar Cóndor', a sculpture of 13.5 meters and 25 tons that is found in the Plaza de Bolívar de Manizales and 'Los lanceros del Pantano de Vargas', 33 meters high by 100 wide that was installed in Paipa, Boyacá to commemorate 150 years of independence.
Fernando González Ochoa (1895-1964), Antioquia writer, held important public positions as magistrate and consul. His literary work includes Viaje a pie, Mi Simón Bolívar y La tragicomedia del padre Elías y Martina.
Manuel Zapata Olivella (1920-2004), born in Lorica (Córdoba), is recognized for being an essential figure of the American continent and a national reference in the African culture and heritage diaspora and indigenous imprint in the transformation of society Colombian. He promoted the First Congress of the Black Culture of the Americas in Cali in 1947, which set the foundations in the fight against discrimination and racism.
