Bonilla, Herran, Vasquez: Bonilla, Herran, Vasquez

There are few exhibitions dedicated to Colombian photographers. There are more rare, if not nonexistent, exhibitions that bring together their works and that allow us to appreciate them as a whole. To begin filling this wide gap noticeable decade after decade in our history, is presented this collection of works by three creators of different origins and trajectories: Patricia Bonilla, Monika Herrán and Laura Vásquez, in a combination of historical artworks, unpublished works and very recent projects.

Bonilla’s El Colombia color (1979-1985) is an acid and humoristic review of the Colombian women stereotypes. This series, participant in the Sao Paulo Biennial (1983) among other avant-garde events in that period, is an anticipated deconstruction of the roles assigned to women in our culture, from the self-portrait. El Colombia color had not been exhibited in three decades until now, forthwith shows a remarkable and surprising present: a dreamlike journey, occasionally caustic, but essentially warm by popular culture. In her roles as a virgin, hippie, widow, prostitute or heroine, or even dressed up as a man, selling raspaos, Bonilla anticipated the critical interpretation of gender roles in Colombian art, being without a doubt a pioneer, as she was in photographic experimentation, combining procedures and visual sources.