Johanna Calle: Silentes, 1985–2015

Museo Amparo is pleased to present the exhibition, Johanna Calle. Silentes, 1985–2015 organized by Banco de la República de Colombia and curated by Helena Tatay.

The work of Johanna Calle is one of the most poetic and representative of contemporary art in Colombia. Silentes examines her work from 1985 to 2015, a period of great artistic experimentation where the artist expanded her criticism from drawing to the use of unusual materials such as wire, threads, photographs, and perforated paper, among others; and worked with investigative accuracy on the works that allude to the social reality in Latin America.

Johanna Calle composes her images as a poem, in her works she must attend with equal attention the way they were created, the materials that were used and the elaboration process, which give not only the tone and the rhythm but, as the poetic image, condense meanings.

The themes of Johanna Calle’s work come from Latin American reality, where the artist, driven by curiosity and research, finds the issues in which she wants to deepen: the frailty of children torn between the armed conflicts that affect Colombia, the uncontrollable growth of urban settlements, the defenselessness of displaced peasants, the environmental attacks in a country with one of the richest biodiversities of the planet, the loss of linguistic richness, and many others.

Nearly 350 works will be included in the exhibition, some of them presented for the first time in the country. It includes series as representative as “Nombre propio” (Own Name), “Perímetros” (Perimeters), and “Perspectivas” (Perspectives).

Johanna Calle (Bogotá, Colombia, 1965) studied Fine Arts at Universidad de Los Andes and a Master of Fine Arts at the Chelsea College of Art in London. Among her recent exhibitions are: 31 Biennial of São Paulo, 2014; Lines at Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Zurich, 2014; SITELines in SITE Santa Fe, United States 2014; América Latina 1960–2013 at Fondation Cartier pour l’art Contemporain in Paris and Museo Amparo in Mexico between 2013 and 2014; Indicios at Galería Casas Riegner in Bogotá, 2014; Marking Language at the Drawing Room in London, 2013; Fotogramática: Photographic Drawings at Galerie Krinzinger in Vienna, 2013; Graphos at Galería Marilia Mazuk, São Paulo, 2014; and Biennale of Sydney, 2016.