The first version of the text “Umberto Giangrandi: espacios y espejos de la carrera 12”, by the art theoretician Armando Silva Téllez, was published in the catalogue Sobre el paisaje urbano: La doce. Monotipos y litografías (1979) from the Galería de Arte Diners. This second version was revised by the author for inclusion in the book/catalogue Umberto Giangrandi: Testimonio de vida (2007). The catalogue was published in connection with a retrospective of this artist’s work at the Museo de Arte de la Universidad Nacional in Colombia. Silva’s thoughts on subjectivity and artistic expression reveal his belief that a group of “committed artists” are recovering the erotic foundation of life. As a result, they are redeeming art from the “the controls to which it has been subjected,” as was done by Giangrandi. Silva states that when the artist entered into urban areas in which we can see “a new social sensitivity,” his work, “questioning and political” developed a new focus. In Carrera 12 (in Bogotá), Giangrandi found an area with clandestine interiors inhabited by prostitutes, “beings under siege from the authorities.” When Silva reads this set of works, what he finds is the relationships between sieges, exits and reflexes. Silva even names specific characters on Carrera 12, who can be seen in monotypes that somehow recreate the unknown marginal world of any city. The “camaján” [person who sponges off others], the “querida” [the paramour] and the café regular are “beings without a room of their own.” When they step across the thresholds of their enclosures, the street comes to represent the sign of their liberation.

“Umberto Giangrandi: espacios y espejos de la carrera 12”, by the art theoretician Armando Silva Téllez (b. 1948), is one of the texts that introduces the individual exhibition Sobre el paisaje urbano (1979), a series of monotypes and lithographs on the daily events in the block where Umberto Giangrandi (b. 1942) had his printmaking workshop. The series Carrera 12 represented an important period in the life of the artist, emerging as it did from the daily life that went on in the area where his workshop was located. This was an area in central Bogotá declared “a red light district,” which Silva regards as an area that prioritizes the bohemia of marginalized persons “so typical of Latin American cities.” Giangrandi was aware of the night life of brothels, bars and cafés, which he would later represent in the pictorial space of monotypes. These works portrayed sordid, dramatic environments that spilled out into expressive figurative works.

Umberto Giangrandi is an Italian painter and printmaker who arrived in Colombia in 1966. The following year, he began to give graphic arts classes at the School of Arts at the Universidad Nacional of Colombia (1967−98) in Bogotá and at the Universidad de los Andes (1968−73). When he arrived in Colombia, he struck up a relationship with Augusto Rendón (b. 1933), since both had studied at different times at the Accademia di Belle Arti di San Marco (Venice), where they had been instructed by the professors Margueri and Viviani, distinguished graphic artists. Around 1951, the Taller de Grabado at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia had been reopened by the artist Luis Ángel Rengifo (1906−86). Years later, Rendón would take on the task of organizing all the workshops, relying on an impressive lineup of printmakers. In addition to Rendón, there was Alfonso Quijano Acero (b. 1927), Alfonso Mateus (b. 1927), Rodolfo Velásquez (b. 1939), and Giangrandi himself. 

Starting in 1966, Giangrandi showed his work regularly in Colombia, including participation in graphic art portfolios and various national and international events. He illustrated title pages for Colombian writers; he also created the Taller Giangrandi in 1969, where he printed the works of well-known Colombian artists including Alejandro Obregón (1920−92), Oscar Jaramillo (b. 1947), and María de la Paz Jaramillo (b. 1948). Beginning in 1966, Giangrandi became involved in set design and theater costumes, working with Santiago García (b. 1928), director of the Teatro La Candelaria. He served as director of the Academia Superior de Artes de Bogotá (ASAB) between 2001 and 2004. 

Armando Silva Téllez has a doctorate in Comparative Literature from the University of California. He earned his master’s degree in semiotics and psychoanalysis at L'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. His theoretical studies, which have had a great impact on the academic world, address the themes of art, the media and the city. He has written numerous books and essays, including these particularly noteworthy works: Graffiti: una ciudad imaginada (1988); Álbum de familia: La imagen de nosotros mismos (1999); Imaginarios urbanos: Cultura y comunicación urbana (1992); and Bogotá imaginada (2003).