Mexico-Colombia Encounters

This exhibition, which seeks to establish a dialog between the art of the two countries through works from the Sura collection and from the Museo Nacional de Colombia, revealing both the common points and the different ways of looking that exist in both cultures, will be on view at the Museo Nacional de Colombia from March 11 through June 7, 2015. The show features nearly 100 works of art, among them paintings, prints, sculptures, and photographs with themes such as still life, landscape, and portraiture. The exhibition is arranged in 4 thematic axes: Knowing the Territory, reflecting on representations of space and emphasizing the contrast between Mexico's vast landscapes and the intimate spaces of Colombian art; The Inhabitants, which focuses on Mexican art's interest in social themes and the search for an archetype of Latin American identity that influenced Colombia's production; Arranging Nature highlights still life from the standpoint of an intellectualization of pictorial compositions; and finally, The Oneiric features works with themes based on imagination and a poetics alternative to reality. Among the many renowned artists whose work is present in this exhibition are Rufino Tamayo, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Ernesto Icaza, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Ignacio Gómez Jaramillo, Débora Arango, Luis Ángel Rengifo, Rómulo Rozo, and Fernando Botero. Curated by Alberto Sierra and Consuelo Fernández, the exhibition is promoted by the Sura Group, which has maintained close ties with the arts and culture for over 70 years, recognizing the great patrimonial, historical, and testimonial value that the visual arts have for society. The exhibition arrives in Bogotá with the support of Itaú BBA, the Friends of the Museo Nacional de Colombia Association, and Fenosa Natural Gas (which sponsors the temporary exhibit gallery). It was previously seen at the Museo Dolores Olmedo and the Centro Cultural Tijuana, in México, and the Museo de Antioquía, in Medellin.