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Almine Rech

Carlos Jacanamijoy

To define Jacanamijoy’s paintings is to construct the genealogy of a signature cosmology which is the outcome of intercultural fusion between his ancestors’ traditions and his Western artistic baggage.

The artist adheres to the principles of abstract Expressionism and autonomy of colour - a posit defined by Paul Gauguin - and, on his canvases, he proposes a journey through the purity of his colours. Vibrant blues, yellows and reds that immerse us in a world of wild and altering environments that envelope and transport us to the forests of Colombia.

It is also a journey through the forest of the unconscious to transcendence along the road to the infinite based on Kant's notions of the sublime. A journey within ourselves; an invitation to pause and reflect.

Something stands out when we contemplate the artist’s work: that intense blue reminiscent of Yves Klein but that is also fluid, intangible and filters through our hands like a spring. And so, his work is not a straight line with a defined beginning and end; it is more of a curve, a circular figure with no beginning or end that unravels before our eyes.

There is no Cartesian or scientific vocation to Carlos Jacanamijoy’s paintings, despite being intimately connected to the origin of the world. The painter's intention is fluid, therefore. It drinks from the surrounding reality, allows itself to be moved and, as mere human beings, it is aware that it is beyond us and so it is the painter’s task to reflect that awe and introspectiveness on the canvas.

In the predominant abstraction of his paintings, we get a glimpse of shapes that appear to stand out from the canvas, figures that are in fact symbols - salvaging the idea of a ritual that is so dear to the artist - that reminds us of the pictorial surrealism of European tradition.

Carlos Jacanamijoy does not rely on his eyes to paint and produce faithful portraits of what he sees. Instead, he allows himself to be guided by an internal drive that pushes him to translate the vibrations echoing inside him into colours.

Carlos Jacanamijoy (b. 1964 in Santiago) lives and works in Colombia.
His work has been the subject of many solo and group exhibitions, notably at Norwegian Museum of Cultural History (Oslo), Museo de Arte Moderno de Toluca (Mexico), Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá MAMBO (Bogota), Smithsonian Institution (New York).

Selected artworks

  • Carlos Jacanamijoy, Semillas para collar, 2023

    Carlos Jacanamijoy Semillas para collar, 2023

    Oil on canvas
    110 x 120 cm
    43 1/2 x 47 in

  • Carlos Jacanamijoy, Presencias en la luz, 2023

    Carlos Jacanamijoy Presencias en la luz, 2023

    Oil on canvas
    110 x 120 cm
    43 1/2 x 47 in

  • Carlos Jacanamijoy, Despertar antes del alba, 2023

    Carlos Jacanamijoy Despertar antes del alba, 2023

    Oil on canvas
    198.5 x 168 cm
    78 x 66 in

  • Carlos Jacanamijoy, El collar de los abuelos, 2023

    Carlos Jacanamijoy El collar de los abuelos, 2023

    Oil on canvas
    198.5 x 168 cm
    78 x 66 in

  • Carlos Jacanamijoy, Caminos de agua, 2022

    Carlos Jacanamijoy Caminos de agua, 2022

    Oil on canvas
    140 x 170 cm
    55 x 67 in

  • Carlos Jacanamijoy, Semillas de remedio espiritual, 2023

    Carlos Jacanamijoy Semillas de remedio espiritual, 2023

    Oil on canvas

    198.5 x 168 cm
    78 x 66 in

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Gallery exhibitions

Museum exhibitions

Selected press