Nohemí Pérez
Nohemí Pérez was born in Tibú, Colombia in 1964.
She lives and works in Bogotá.
The multidisciplinary practice of Nohemí Pérez, revolves around the relationship between men and nature; the conflicts, tensions and genesis that arise from this constant friction.
Based on the notions of architecture, cinema and sociology, the artist proposes a rereading of the Catatumbo territory; a geographical region in the border between Colombia and Venezuela with a very particular natural and sociocultural ecosystem. From the conquest until today, Catatumbo is the scene of multiple conflicts that have been transformed to compose a complex plot of anachronistic situations characteristic of Latin American contemporaneity. Illegal armed groups of right, left, native tribes, evangelical missionaries and large multinationals of mining and drug trafficking coexist in this jungle region.
Very often, Pérez uses charcoal in her work as a reference to mining; coal itself is also a recurring element, with which she aims to make visible the exploitation of natural resources and at the same time the violence that this triggers.
From the territory of her memory and her affections, Nohemí Pérez reconstructs the history of her origin and thus, collects the voices of those who live and have lived the Catatumbo from the close emotional ties of their experience. A particular interest in Nohemí’s work is to draw new symbolic and geographical maps that correspond to the various realities of the Catatumbo to allow it to appear on the scene of reconstruction and peace.
Selected solo exhibitions include No Man’s Land, artpace, San Antonio, Texas (2023); The Forest’s Bedding, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah (2021); Catatumbo, Barranquilla Museum of Modern Art, Barranquilla, Colombia (2012); Catatumbo, NC-Arte, Bogotá (2012); El lugar sin límites, Universidad de Salamanca Cultural Centre, Bogotá (2005), and Urbania, Cartagena Museum of Modern Art, Cartagena (2003).
Pérez has been part of many collective shows such as the 15th Cuenca Biennial (2021); MECARÕ. L’Amazonie dans la collection Petitgas, MO.CO., Montpellier, France (2020); El círculo que faltaba, Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (MAMM), Medellín, Colombia (2019); Fortuna. Diálogos: extracción, economía y cultura, Museo Universidad de Antioquía, Medellín, Colombia (2019); Routes and Territories, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago (2019); Tierra de/por medio, Museo de Arte Miguel Urrutia (MAMU), Bogotá (2019); 10th SIART International Biennial, La Paz, Bolivia (2018); Terrícolas, Pereira Museum of Modern Art, Pereira, Colombia (2014); Arquitectura Emocional, Bogotá Chamber of Commerce (2009); Nuevas Donaciones, Cartagena Museum of Modern Art, Cartagena, Colombia, and August Salon, Gilberto Alzate Avendaño Foundation, Bogotá (1987).
The work of Nohemí Pérez is part of art collections around the world like the Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago; the Banco de la República Art Collection, Bogotá; the Kadist Collection, Paris and San Francisco; the ARCO Foundation, Madrid; the Cartagena Museum of Modern Art, Colombia; and the CAF Corporación Andina de Fomento Collection, Caracas.
Exhibition view, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 2019
Exhibition view, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 2019
Exhibition view - MO.CO., Montpellier, France, 2020
Exhibition view - Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador, 2021
De Resurrección, 2020, Oil and Charcoal on canvas
Exhibition view - SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia, 2021
Exhibition view - SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia, 2021
Exhibition view - artpace, San Antonio, Texas, 2023
Exhibition view - artpace, San Antonio, Texas, 2023
El Arca, 2023 - Charcoal on fabric with embriodery
El Arca, 2023 - Charcoal on fabric with embriodery
El Arca, 2023 - Detail
El Arca, 2023 - Detail
Llanto del Bosque, 2023 - Installation view
Colibrí en Bosque de Niebla, 2023 - Charcoal on fabric with embriodery
Salamandra, 2023 - Charcoal on fabric with embriodery
Apuntes para quema, 2022 - Charcoal on canvas with embroidery
Apuntes para quema, 2022 - Charcoal on canvas with embroidery
Catatumbo expandido, 2021 - Charcoal on canvas
Catatumbo expandido, 2021 - Detail
Catatumbo expandido, 2021 - Detail
Llanto del Bosque, 2022 - Installation view
Desalojo de los Escarabajos, 2022 - Charcoal and embriodery on fabric
Desalojo de los Escarabajos, 2022 - Detail
Bajo el cielo protector, 2020 - Exhibition View, A Sunless Future ?, mor charpentier, Paris, 2021
Bajo el cielo protector IV, 2020 - Oil on canvas
Bajo el cielo protector I, 2020 - Oil on canvas
Bajo el cielo protector III, 2020 - Oil on canvas
Bajo el cielo protector XIV, 2020 - Oil on canvas
Bajo el cielo protector XII, 2020 - Oil on canvas
Trocha I, 2020 - Oil on canvas
Trocha II, 2020 - Oil on canvas
Pozo Azul, 2021 - Oil on canvas
Exhibition view - Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico, 2021
Exhibition view - Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico, 2021
Apuntes para Panorama Catatumbo III, 2015 - Oil on canvas
Apunte para Panorama Catatumbo V, 2015 - Oil on canvas
Apuntes para Panorama Catatumbo VI, 2015 - Oil on canvas
Pasando el páramo, 2019 - Oil on canvas
El padre, 2019 - Oil on canvas
Confinamiento, 2021 - Watercolor
Confinamiento, 2021 - Watercolor