In this article, the Colombian critic and curator Jaime Cerón (b. 1967) reviews the work of Alberto Baraya (b. 1968). It is an important document because it identifies and discusses the main conceptual axis of the Colombian painter’s work. The most interesting feature of Cerón’s review is that he describes Baraya as an artist who criticizes discourse that flaunt authority, such as those in the scientific field, as well as the artificiality that masks scientific knowledge itself. Baraya is therefore granted considerable status as a contemporary and Latin American artist when his work is positioned at the center of precisely the sort of concerns that are important to a creator with such credentials, including the matter of having a difficult relationship with the centers of power.
This document is included in a publication about Baraya’s work that was produced by the financial institution UBS AG (Association of Swiss Banks) and its branch office in Colombia (2006). It was also included in a number of books that were produced as promotional vehicles for the work of distinguished contemporary Colombian artists. For more on this matter, see “Juan Pablo Echeverry” [doc. no. 1134598]; and “Humberto Junca” [doc. no. 1131451].
Alberto Baraya is a graduate of the faculty of fine arts at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia at Bogotá. In 1995, he earned his master’s degree in aesthetics and art theory at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. In addition to his work as an artist, Baraya has been a university professor in the art programs at the Universidad de Los Andes and the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, both of which are in Bogotá.
Jaime Cerón has a master’s degree in art history and architecture from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia at Bogotá. He was the manager of visual arts (1997) at the Instituto Distrital de Cultura y Turismo [District Institute of Culture and Tourism] in the city of Bogotá. He is currently (2009) a freelance curator, art theoretician, cultural agent, and teacher in a number of art programs at Colombian universities.
To see other documents on the work of Alberto Baraya, see [doc. no. 1130395] and [doc. no. 1132176].