Past exhibition
Felipe Arturo
El Objeto y el Pensamiento
April 14 - October , 2023
Press release
El Objeto y el Pensamiento, a solo exhibition featuring site-specific works for our gallery, FormatoComodo, presents a captivating journey through a series of kinetic sculptures crafted from vegetable fibers, set in motion by the centrifugal force of ceiling fans. These fibers, bearing the material knowledge of the pre-Hispanic and Afro-descendant cultures that abound in the Americas, have conjured a spectral chamber, rife with cultural elements marginalized in the Latin American territory.The kinetic sculptures, in prior projects by the artist, were fashioned from leaves and fibers sourced from various plant species, including coconut palm, iraca palm fiber and leaves,cañaflecha fiber, and werregue fiber. The artist, has created these pieces working in tandem with associations, communities and artisan companies, such as the Kankuamo weavers from the Cesar department, the Asomupart association of women producers and artisans from Tuchín, Córdoba, the Acire enterprise of artisans from the town of Uciacurí, Atlántico, and the Wounan community residing in Bogotá, hailing from the Chocó department. For this exhibition at FormatoComodo, the artist has collaborated primarily with artisans from Tuchín, a region of the Zenú indigenous reservation in San Andrés de Sotavento, a municipality that focuses predominantly on the weaving of cañaflecha. Additionally, the exhibition features a selection of works originating from the tales of the Panama hat, crafted using hats from the province of Manabí in Ecuador, alongside a video created during the artist's residence at Casa Wabi, located along the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico.The exhibition's eponymous work, el Objeto y el Pensamiento[the Object and the Thought], was developed in 2017 on the Mexican Pacific coast, under the tutelage of artisan Cleto Reyes, as the artist endeavored to learn and unlearn the techniques of knitting the water lily fiber      


Felipe Arturo, an artist and architect born in Bogotá in 1979, has amultidisciplinary practice that draws from urbanism, architectureand art, engaging with politics, history, geography and economics.His oeuvre consists of sculptures, installations, photographs andvideos that explore themes such as structure, sequence andmatter. Arturo's projects have delved into the relationship betweenarchitecture and time, the residues of history in vernacular andpopular architecture, the constant tension between modern andnon-academic architectural approaches, as well as aninterdisciplinary exploration of the colonial legacy in ourcontemporary world.Arturo holds a degree in architecture from Universidad de LosAndes in Bogotá, a master's degree in visual arts from ColumbiaUniversity in New York and a doctorate in visual arts from theUniversity of Évora in Portugal. He has been involved in a diverserange of events, including the Salón Nacional de Artistas ofColombia (2013), the Luis Caballero Award (2016-2017), theCartagena Biennial of Contemporary Art (2014) and the LyonBiennial (2019). He has also developed specific projects in variouslocations such as the Botanical Garden of Bogotá (2005),Fragmentos, Espacio de Arte y Memoria (2019), Plaza de Bolívar(2016), the Banco de la República Art Museum in Bogotá (2011),the Museo Amparo of Puebla (2010), La Tertulia Museum (2017)and Lugar a Dudas (2013) in Cali.As an Associate Professor at Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá,Arturo continues to explore the intersections of architecture, artand urbanism, while engaging with the complex historical andsocial realities that shape our built environment.