Fernando Botero at Museo Botero

Bogotá, considered one of the most exciting global cities for contemporary art, is awash with contemporary art galleries and has its own influential annual arts fair: ArtBo. Yet it’s not only Bogotá that’s culturally buzzing. The Cartagena Biennial also promotes Colombia’s contemporary art, and the country as a whole is experiencing a cultural renaissance. Here, Culture Trip picks the ten must-know Colombian artists and where to see their work.
Oscar Murillo’s cachet is extremely high in the contemporary art scene at the moment. He is currently represented by two prestigious galleries, Carlos/Ishikawa and David Zwirner, and he is continually pushing the boundaries of visual art while at the same time exploring his Colombian roots. This is most evident in A Mercantile Novel, an exhibition that illustrates the globalization of the manufacturing process by re-creating a factory production line that makes chocolate-covered marshmallows. It is made by one of Colombia’s biggest sweet manufacturers, Colombina, which used to employ members of Murillo’s family. He was also included in the international group exhibition at Saatchi Gallery called Pangaea: New Art from Africa and Latin America, which also includes fellow countrymen Fredy Alzate and Rafael Gómezbarros.
See Oscar Murillo’s work at David Zwirner, 519 West 19th Street New York, NY, USA, + 1 212 727 2070 and David Zwirner, 24 Grafton St, Mayfair, London W1S 4EZ