This text was published when Colombian artist José Horacio Martínez (b. 1961) was awarded a prize at the XXXV Salón Nacional de Artistas (1994)—the most important contemporary art competition in Colombia—making him the most celebrated painter in the city of Cali. Martínez submitted to the competition Recuerdos de infancia (1994), the series of paintings for which he was awarded a master’s degree in the visual arts from the Instituto Departamental de Bellas Artes of Cali. Four years earlier, Martínez—along with artists like María Fernanda Cardoso (b. 1963) and sculptor Pablo Van Wong (b. 1957)—had been awarded a special mention at the XXXIII Salón Nacional de Artistas (1990); all of those artists went on to build solid careers.
At this time, Martínez was participating in seminars given by Miguel Ángel Rojas (b. 1946) at the Instituto Departamental de Bellas of Cali. An entire generation of artists was influenced by Neo-Expressionist art of the sort Rojas produced. The large formats preferred by Neo-Expressionist artists challenged the premises of painting from the nineties.
In 1994, the Instituto Colombiano de Cultura (Colcultura) organized the XXXV Salón Nacional de Artistas, which included those artists who had been selected at the regional salons held over the course of the previous year as well as artists who had been awarded prizes at previous editions of the Salón Nacional. Paintings with an array of formal and conceptual visions were featured in this edition of the event. Critics of the time argued that the structure of the event should be changed because it resembled a modern—as opposed to contemporary—salon or exhibition venue; at that time, the Salón Nacional was held at Corferias (Centro Internacional de Negocios y Exposiciones de Bogotá), which was not properly equipped to house the works.
Since 1994, José Horacio Martínez has been a professor at the Instituto Departamental de Bellas Artes of Cali. He directs Espacio Temporal, a project for the exhibition of artworks and for temporarily housing contemporary art practices in art spaces in crisis or in a state of ruin, spaces like the Museo de Arte Moderno La Tertulia in Cali. In 2008, Martínez participated in the curatorial committee for the 41st Salón Nacional de Artistas, whose members also included Colombian artists Oscar Muñoz (b. 1951), Bernardo Ortíz (b. 1972), Wilson Díaz (b. 1963), and Argentine curator Victoria Noorthoorn (b. 1971).