Daniel Correa Mejía
Daniel Correa Mejía was born in 1986 in Medellín, Colombia.
He lives and works in Berlin.
Correa Mejía’s paintings, characterized by its vivid colors which illuminate forms from within, crystallize a dreamlike inner world: unfamiliar landscapes undulate across the canvas as if moved by a spiritual force, and celestial bodies are seen presiding over human life. In them, we see flamboyant, radiant bodies — whether in movement, at rest, or in quiet contemplation —passionately spring across the canvas. The artist’s figures are alive in the most primordial sense of the word: espousing a connection with the universe, as well as the Self, they evince an honest appreciation for existence.
Daniel Correa Mejía’s work is rife with recurrent figures and symbols that evoke both natural and spiritual forces: the moon, which he relates to femininity, is an especially frequent motif. Millenary associations to progress, enlightenment, and fertility immediately spring to mind— the association of moonlight to water, another vital figure across his works, likewise conjures up powerful unconscious images. These frequent associations participate in the construction of the artist’s aesthetic vernacular. In his figurative practice, autobiographical elements often seep into this visual world. In these moments, the process of painting is akin to catharsis, and the results are revealing of states of mind that are both deeply personal and highly relatable. Yet, even as the characters might be in part inspired by himself, and past or present friends and lovers, they are in fact receptacles for the spectator’s own awareness: the work’s symbology invokes collective images that exist within each person’s subconscious, effectively communicating a message to the viewer. Far from passive representations of life, the images are mementos recovered from the depths of Daniel’s psyche, becoming totems or archetypes brimming with pathos.
There is a distinctly spiritual message that underlies Correa Mejía’s body of work. Most. of all, his works exhort the interconnectedness of all beings, which he continuously observes through the primal awareness of his surroundings. The paintings reflect the spiritual dichotomies that arise from such unmediated observation. In uncertain times, it is sometimes necessary to return to that primordial connection to ourselves and to the world at large— and in case one forgets, Daniel’s paintings are there to remind us.
His most recent exhibitions include: A Queer Arcana: Art, Magic, and Spirit, Palm Springs Art Museum, USA (forthcoming, 2026); A World Far Away, Nearby and Invisible, curated by Claudia S. Campins, El Espacio 23, Miami, USA (2025); Acervo em transformação, MASP, São Paulo, Brazil (2025); MAXIMAL, curated by Sophia Süßmilch and Cathrin Hoffmann, Remise im Wrangelkiez, Berlin, Germany (2025); Queer Histories, curated by Adriano Pedrosa and Julia Bryan-Wilson, MASP, São Paulo, Brazil (2024); Licked by the Waves, Museum More, Gorssel, Netherlands (2024); Si dos partículas se unieran por un tiempo…, mor charpentier, Bogotá, Colombia (2024); Cuando el depredador está lejos: los pájaros cantan, Maureen Paley at Studio M, London, UK (2024); When the Firebird Flies, Kunstverein Meissen, curated by Nicola Petek, Meissen, Germany (2023); Eye to Eye, New York Academy of Art, New York, USA (2023); Soy el dueño de mi casa, PPOW, New York, USA (2023); Our Land Just Like a Dream, MACAAL Museum, Marrakech, Morocco (2022); Life in an Ivory Tower, curated by Jack Siebert, New York, USA (2022); El camino más largo, Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, Colombia (2021); Male Nudes: A Salon from 1800 to 2021, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brazil (2021); Soy hombre: duro poco y es enorme la noche, Fortnight Institute, New York, USA (2020–2021, solo exhibition).
