In this article, published by the daily newspaper, El Tiempo, on May 24, 1991, the arts journalist and editor, José Hernández, announced the opening of Gaula. This gallery was a new exhibition space for contemporary art, located in the Macarena neighborhood in Bogotá. The opening event was the installation of 18 works by the Colombian artist, Elías Heim, and the video Euménides, by Bernardo Murillo. The writer highlights the project of an exhibition space organized by Danilo Dueñas, Carlos Salas Silva and Jaime Iregui, who are also artists. In the introduction, Hernández provides context for the new design, emphasizing its unconventional approach with respect to the questions it raises about the art market. Similarly, he establishes the differences between the position of these artists and concepts such as the avant-garde, manifestos and continuity in Colombian art. He also sets forth Gaula’s objectives as an exhibition space for young artists (with no preestablished conditions). Hernández is particularly interested in process management. In the long term, that would have to do with thinking processes, and, in the short term, it would be focused on exhibition practices. For example, there would be exhibitions shown for one day only (Gilles Charalambos), just one week (Víctor Robledo), and individual exhibitions rotated every five weeks. Finally, the writer describes Gaula’s printed matter, information activities and administration, covering both the search for the space and its conversion from an old furniture factory to a contemporary art space.

The article, “Los artistas en su salsa” [Artists in their Element] is important as a record of opening of Gaula (1991?1992). This gallery was one of the alternative exhibition spaces that sprung up in the early 1990s as a live response to the worn-out strategies of the institutional spaces and art galleries in the Colombian art world. Moreover, the document shows how the young Abstract artists and painters, Carlos Salas Silva (b. 1957), Danilo Dueñas (b. 1956) and Jaime Iregui (b. 1956), came to implement tactics that were quite unconventional. Together, they opened spaces in search of projects that would suit their own artistic approaches but did not meet the purposes of the commercial galleries. They began by opening and running Gaula, and later, along with other artists, they would undertake the project, Tándem (1993?1998) [see doc. no. 1134126]. Along with the writer of this article, the journalist, José Hernández, they would also found, “Espacio Vacío” [Empty Space] (1997?2003) [doc. no. 1135774]. La Macarena neighborhood where Gaula was located is in central Bogotá, bordered on the south by the Bosque Izquierdo neighborhood and on the east by Torres del Parque [Park Towers] (a building complex designed by the architect, Rogelio Salmona). La Macarena was a favorite area for artists and intellectuals at the time, for both living spaces and workshops; it was also recognized for its cultural and gastronomical offerings.

This text was also published on the Web site esferapública [Public Sphere], under the title “¿Pintar únicamente? [Only Painting?]” http://esferapublica.org/nfblog/?p=1356. Among the photographs published with the article are one that is a record of opening day, with outstanding young artists, and another that records an event in August 1991, including the critics, Carolina Ponce de León and Eduardo Serrano, as well as the artist, Miguel Ángel Rojas.  

Jaime Iregui earned his master’s degree in the History and Theory of Art and Architecture at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia [National University of Colombia]. Since 1999, he has been editor of esferapública (www.esferapublica.org) and El Observatorio [The Observatory], [see doc. no. 1132949], both independent networks for thinking and discussion on the Internet. He is currently (2010) coordinator of the Área de Proyectos Culturales [Cultural Projects Division] of the Art Department of the Universidad de los Andes [University of the Andes] in Bogotá. For more information on the artist’s other projects, see [doc. no. 1132933]. 

Carlos Salas Silva is an architect at the Universidad de los Andes and studied painting at the École Nationale Superieure de Beaux-Arts in Paris. He has participated in numerous exhibitions such as, Por mi raza hablará el espíritu. Intercambio artístico México?Colombia [The Spirit will speak for my Race. Mexican/Colombian Art Exchange]. Museo del Chopo, UNAM [National Autonomous University of Mexico], Mexico City (1995); A través del espejo: Autorreflexión de la pintura. [Through the Mirror: Self Reflection in Painting.] Museo de Arte Moderno [Museum of Modern Art] in Bogotá (1998), among others. He is currently (2010) director of the Galería Mundo. For more information on the artist, see [docs. no. 1132853, 1133157, 1133804, and 1134646].