This article, entitled “Manual,” by the art critic and curator Jaime Cerón, appeared in a magazine devoted to the work of Humberto Junca. It was published on the occasion of Junca’s participation in Enfoques [Focuses] (2006), the program that was organized by the financial institution UBS AG (Union of Swiss Banks) and its local office in Colombia. The objective of the program was to expose the work of a number of important contemporary Colombian artists. In his article, Cerón reviews several of Junca’s major works, discussing the main problems involved in their execution and describing some of them, such as: Imperial (1999), Llama [Flame] (2003), Handicap (2000), El mal vestido [The Badly Dressed] (1999), and Desecho [Waste] (2002).

This is one of the most insightful articles ever written about the work of Humberto Junca (b. 1968), because here the Colombian art critic Jaime Cerón (b. 1967) refers to what he considers to be the recurring problems in Junca’s work, discussing the lengthy production processes and his questioning of the artist’s role in a sociocultural environment. Cerón mentions the presence of repetitive acts that critically examine the development of behavior habits, in the family environment and at school, and alludes to the daily chores carried out in those contexts; the works thus defy easy classification within the category of art. In Cerón’s opinion, these features of Junca’s work succeed in distancing it from “romantic” ideas that nurture visions of art as an ahistorical, universal, and neutral phenomenon. 

Jaime Cerón earned his master’s degree in the history of art and architecture at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá. He was the manager of visual arts (1997) at the Instituto Distrital de Cultura y Turismo [District Institute of Culture and Tourism] in Bogotá. He has served as a member of the jury at a number of events, including the awarding of cultural grants from the Colombian Ministry of Culture, and the VII Bienal de Arte de Bogotá [Seventh Bogotá Art Biennial]. His curatorial work has provided firm and decisive support for contemporary art in Colombia. He is currently (2009) a freelance curator, art theoretician, cultural agent, and teacher in a number of university art programs in Colombia. 

Humberto Junca is an artist. He graduated from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and is also an art critic, curator, and teacher; he works with several art programs in Bogotá. He has won a number of awards, including the Cuarto Ciclo [Fourth Cycle] prize in the program Jóvenes Artistas de la Alianza Colombo-Francesa [Young Artists of the Colombian-French Alliance] (Bogotá, 2003), and received a special mention at the Bienal de Gráfica Alternativa [Alternative Graphics Biennial] at the ASAB (Academia Superior de Artes de Bogotá) [Superior Academy of Arts in Bogotá] in 2003. In 2005 Junca received a grant to take part in the IV Premio Luis Caballero [Fourth Luis Caballero Prize]. He is a founding member of the musical group Las Malas Amistades, with which he performed at the Festival de Performance [Performance Festival] in Cali [see doc. no. 1099696, and doc. no. 1102579]. He has recorded a couple of albums; one was released by the English label Honest Jon’s, the other by the Psych-o-path label in the United States.  

To access material related to Junca’s critical work, see [doc. no. 1100916]; to read his interview [doc. no.  1131354], and to review other theoretical documents on his work [doc. no. 1099366].