Social Media-Inspired Artwork at Feria ArtBo
Emojis, memes and more get attention during the International Art Fair of Bogotá
Even if you go ahead and delete your social media apps, they’ll find a way to creep back into your life—perhaps by finding their way onto the walls of Colombia‘s preeminent art fair, ArtBo, for example. This year proved to be a remarkable one for the 70-gallery fair. Be it large-scale artwork asking visitors to participate or global representation that bolsters domestic development, the International Art Fair of Bogotá demonstrates the power of this stop along the art fair circuit. And, of course, there were two Colombian artists whose work breached the aforementioned barrier into social media, and brought the language of Instagram and Twitter to the walls of an exhibition center.
Three Instagram Likes
Colombian artist Gabriel Zea‘s “Three Instagram Likes” immortalizes the fleeting red pop-up notifications that so many yearn for. Zea’s depiction is straightforward enough, though in some ways, also troubling. These 2018 pieces appeared in the education section of ArtBo, known as Articularte. Many battle with the internal value of a like or comment. Perhaps this is an acute acceptance of that.
Money Is Better Than Likes But I’ll Take What I Can Get
Even those opposed to text-based art will have trouble disliking the work of Colombian artist Juan Uribe. For his series “Diagrammatic Reasoning” (pictured as the hero, featured on our Instagram and represented by SRG Galeria), Uribe distills social norms and the cultural consciousness. Drawn from his 2017 series of quips, I Always Cry At Openings, “Money Is Better Than Likes But I’ll Take What I Can Get,“ made its way to ArtBo. Not only here, but in the entire collection of sharp-witted and colorful-framed works, Uribe distills thoughts, wishes and desires without holding back.
Followers and Art
This time with notable Colombian gallery Rincón Projects, Gabriel Zea showcases four marble sculptures from 2018: “Food,” “Life,” “Art” and “Followers.” Each appears much like a tombstone, though every one lists several prominent hashtags pertaining to the works’ title. There’s something quite sad to them all, though humor resides here, too.
Images by David Graver
