Mario Opazo

Tomé, Chile 1969

Lives and works in Bogotá

Chilean fine artist and audiovisual creator and professor at Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Today, his work is oriented towards the possible relationship between the performative and the audiovisual. His interdisciplinary approach has taken him to propose “de-generate” aesthetic and fluctuating products between content and medium, between traditional and experimental narratives, that situate their configuration places more towards the creative conduct than in traditionally disciplinary abilities, resorting to a possible subversion of particularities and limits of artistic languages. He carries out actions of resistance and micropolitical gestures that unveil his position and critical point of view towards the contemporary world. He has participated in important events such as: the 52nd International Biennial of Art in Venice, the Havana Biennial, and the Mercosur Biennial. He won the Latin American Art Prize at the Museum of Modern Art of Los Angeles, has participated for several years in the Rencontres Internationales Paris / Berlin / Madrid at the Pompidou Center, at the Beaux Arts of Paris, and at the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid. His work has been shown in group and solo exhibitions locally and abroad. The premier of his documentary feature dedicated to the state of the Saharaui people titled “Bitter as life' at the Intermedia space of the Matadero Cultural Center in Madrid particularly stands out. He has been nominated for creation scholarships and awards, among them: the nomination to the Guggenheim Scholarship by Paulo Bruscky in 2000 and the nomination to the Luis Caballero Prize in 2008. His solo show “Runaway Territory,” opening March 2008 at the gallery Gabriela Mistral in Santiago also stands out. Among other important awards, he has received the First Prize for the 36th Colombian National Salon of Artists, the Luis Caballero Prize in 2010, the First Prize at the Young Art Salon, First Prize at the I Salon of Two-dimensional Art, First Prize at the British American Tobacco Kent Explores Salon, along with countless other mentions and acknowledgments.