Art critic Miguel González wrote the text “Sobre Marta Elena Vélez” for the exhibition Marta Elena Vélez [1980-1986] held at the Museo de Arte Moderno of Medellín (MAMM). González compares Vélez’s first exhibition, which took place in 1967, to this one and concludes that the work of this Colombian artist has varied greatly over the years. Indeed, Vélez’s work is characterized by a sense of inventiveness and restlessness that has led her to formulate new problems. Quoting the artist herself, González claims that her work addresses the topics of nostalgia and magic: “a dreamed nostalgia for what has been experienced and what has been desired.” The text discusses three distinct moments in Vélez’s work. In the first, the icon of the tiger figures prominently as the artist represented its stripes in paintings, photo silk screens, suitcases, and silk cushions. In the second phase, Vélez’s ironic work revolved around a hyperrealist bronze suitcase—one far too heavy to lift—that had been left in a hallway of El Dorado airport in Bogotá. The author describes the third and most recent period—which began with the exhibition Espíritus afines (1985) at the Galería Garcés Velásquez (Bogotá)—as “more narrative, baroque, and arcane.” It makes use of fabric purchased in shops in Medellín, a city associated, in those years, with intense textile production.

Art critic Miguel González (b. 1950) wrote this text for the exhibition Marta Elena Vélez (1980-1986) held at the Museo de Arte Moderno of Medellín (MAMM).  Vélez(b.1938) was one of the most emblematic artists from Medellín in the seventies. In his analysis, González divides Vélez’s production into three distinct phases that he believes provide an understanding of an artist unique in the region. Vélez’s restless personality, González argues, has led her to explore a variety of supports and popular iconography. 

Vélez forms part of a generation of artists from Medellín that, thanks in part to the Primera Bienal de Coltejer (1968), produced experimental work. To expand the possibilities offered by her painting, Vélez made use of supports like screens, curtains, cushions, and other objects. González argues that Vélez’s work is by no means uniform as it ventures into the spheres of sculpture, painting, assemblage, the readymade, and performance. This text, along with the show at MAMM, evidences a versatile personality engaged in constant exploration. 

Marta Elena Vélez studied at the Universidad de Antioquia’s Instituto de Artes Plásticas with artists Anibal Gil (b. 1932) and Rafael Sáenz, both of whom were essential to her education in painting. One of the exhibitions that González mentions is Arte nuevo para Medellín (1967), the first exhibition in which the artist took part. Her work was later featured in the group shows like the II Salón de Artistas Antioqueños (1970), III Bienal de Coltejer (1972), Cali, Barranquilla, Medellín (1974), and other regional and national events. 

At the time of this exhibition, González was an art critic and professor at the Instituto Departamental de Bellas Artes in the city of Cali. He was the curator of the Museo de Arte Moderno La Tertulia for fourteen years (1985-2009). In 2005, he published the book Apuntes para una historia del arte en el Valle del Cauca durante el siglo XX and, in 2008, Cali: visiones y miradas, a compilation of his critical production from 1972 to 2007.