A moment for Oswaldo: Bogotá’s Museo de Arte Moderno hosts seven-decade Vigas retrospective
When the late Venezuelan artist Oswaldo Vigas lived in Paris from 1952 to 1965, he became close to several internationally recognised names, including Fernand Léger, Max Ernst, Wifredo Lam and, significantly, Pablo Picasso. 'Picasso was absolutely curious about all his work,' recounts Vigas' son, Lorenzo. 'He wanted my father to show him everything, but my father used to tell me that he preferred not to.' The Spaniard encouraged Vigas to reflect on notions of ancestry in his work; not long after, the features of the faces found in Pre-Columbian art began to show up in his paintings. After returning to his native Venezuela with his wife Janine in the mid-60s, Vigas would soon cement his position as one of the country's most important artists; but because of this move, he also failed to gain the worldwide fame and traction of his contemporaries in Paris.
After Vigas died in 2014, at the age of 90, his family made it their mission to increase awareness of the artist through the Oswaldo Vigas Foundation and began exhibiting his work internationally. On 16 July, 'Antológica 1943–2013' opened at Bogotá's Museo de Arte Moderno. On view until 23 August, the exhibition is a retrospective spanning seven decades' of Vigas' work, featuring dozens of paintings and sculptures, and revealing his affinity for the female form and his strong, gestural style. Beginning with the abstract 1943 piece Composición IV
– made when the artist was just 20 years old – to pieces he produced in his eighties, the exhibition displays Vigas's talent for colourful abstraction and includes key pieces such as the 1951 painting Bruja Infante and 1953's Proyecto Para Mural en Verde, a bold green and blue constructivist piece made for the famed Universidad Central de Venezuela.
Vigas was an artist in the purest sense. 'He was interested in creating,' says Lorenzo. 'He was not interested at all in spending time promoting, just being an artist.' Hopefully, through the exhibition, which will relocate to São Paulo next spring, Vigas's oeuvre will receive the attention it so rightfully deserves.
ADDRESS
Museo de Arte Moderno
06, Cl. 24
#6A, Bogotá
Colombia
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ann Binlot is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer who covers art, fashion, design, architecture, food, and travel for publications like Wallpaper*, the Wall Street Journal, and Monocle. She is also editor-at-large at Document Journal and Family Style magazines.
-
Postcard from Design Week Lagos 2024
Reporting from Nigeria’s capital during Design Week Lagos 2024, our correspondent shares his view from the streets and explores the role of design in economic evolution
By Ugonnaora Owoh Published
-
Meet the 2024 Royal Academy Dorfman Prize winner: Livyj Bereh from Ukraine
The 2024 Royal Academy Dorfman Prize winner has been crowned: congratulations to architecture collective Livyj Bereh from Ukraine, praised for its rebuilding efforts during the ongoing war in the country
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Out of office: What the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this week
The Wallpaper* editors are a busy bunch. From tingling their tastebuds in London, Speyside and Hong Kong to watching obscure Estonian animations, here's how they've been spending their time
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Royal College of Physicians Museum presents its archives in a glowing new light
London photography exhibition ‘Unfamiliar’, at the Royal College of Physicians Museum (23 January – 28 July 2023), presents clinical tools as you’ve never seen them before
By Martha Elliott Published
-
Museum of Sex to open Miami outpost in spring 2023
The Museum of Sex will expand with a new Miami outpost in spring 2023, housed in a former warehouse reimagined by Snøhetta and inaugurated with an exhibition by Hajime Sorayama
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published
-
Jenny Holzer curates Louise Bourgeois: ‘She was infinite’
The inimitable work of Louise Bourgeois is seen through the eyes of Jenny Holzer in this potent meeting of minds at Kunstmuseum Basel
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
‘A Show About Nothing’: group exhibition in Hangzhou celebrates emptiness
The inaugural exhibition at new Hangzhou cultural centre By Art Matters explores ‘nothingness’ through 30 local and international artists, including Maurizio Cattelan, Ghislaine Leung, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Liu Guoqiang and Yoko Ono
By Yoko Choy Last updated
-
Three days in Doha: art, sport, desert, heat
In our three-day Doha diary, we record the fruits of Qatar’s cultural transformation, which involved Jeff Koons, a glass palace of books, and a desert sunset on Richard Serra
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Last updated
-
Hong Kong’s M+ Museum to open with six thematic shows
Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture will open on 12 November in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, with six themed shows spanning art, design and architecture
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Last updated
-
Maurizio Cattelan invites the who’s who of culture to read bedtime stories
The subversive Italian artist has recruited the likes of Iggy Pop, Takashi Murakami and Joan Jonas to read bedtime stories in a new digital project for the New Museum
By Pei-Ru Keh Last updated
-
James Turrell lights the way at Museo Jumex
The California-born artist shows his true colours at the David Chipperfield-designed museum in Mexico City
By James Burke Last updated