Five continents and one city: The Tercer Salón Internacional de Pintura [3rd International Painting Salon], held in Mexico City in 2000, was based on the selections made by five curators, each of whom chose three contemporary artists from their region. The curators were: Africa, Olu Oguibe (b. 1964); America, Gerardo Mosquera (b. 1945); Asia and Oceania, Fumio Nanjo (b. 1949); Europe, Chris Dercon (b. 1958); and Mexico, Víctor Zamudio Taylor. The Cuban curator and art critic Gerardo Mosquera chose the Colombian artist Delcy Morelos (b. 1967) and the Cuban artists Luis Cruz Azaceta (b. 1942) and Jorge Luis Marrero (b. 1970) as the participants in the competition. In the catalogue for the Biennial, each curator discussed the work of their three chosen artists. In his essay on Delcy Morelos’ work, Mosquera focused on both her heterodox and innovative use of painting that undermined traditional Figurative and Abstract strategies and her paradoxical allegiance to conceptual and abstract painting styles, while stressing her persistent adherence to the pictorial medium. 

This essay reveals just how important Delcy Morelos is, not just in terms of Colombian art but also at an international level. Her involvement in the Tercer Salón Internacional de Pintura: Cinco Continentes y una Ciudad [3rd International Painting Salon: Five Continents and One City] at the invitation of the Cuban intellectual Gerardo Mosquera—one of the most active and important curators, critics, and thinkers in contemporary Latin American art—confirms her standing in the international art circuit. Morelos was the only Colombian artist to participate in the competition that, in its previous edition (November 26, 1998−February 28, 1999) included works by Beatriz González (b. 1938).

The essay is also significant because it expresses Mosquera’s interest, writing from an international perspective that ignores the prevailing local viewpoint that tends to link Morelos’ work to the violence in her country. The connection between Morelos’ work and the violence that has plagued Colombia in recent years has been studied by a number of critics, including José Ignacio Roca who refers to her work ‘twothousandfourhundredandeighttimes’ (1995). 

Mosquera’s review also considers the fact that Morelos’ work is midway between Figuration and Abstraction, referring to her heterodox approach to the craft of painting, which leads to multiple semantic possibilities in her paintings. He explains how she uses her material to allude to organic matter (flesh or skin) with no need to resort to Figurative strategies. 

Delcy Morelos studied at the Escuela de Bellas Artes [School of Fine Arts] in Cartagena from 1988 to 1991. She has had many solo and group exhibitions, in Colombia and abroad. She was awarded First Prize at the Salón de Arte Joven [Young Art Salon] at the Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano in Cartagena; First Prize at the Salón de Arte Joven in Bogotá; and the prize at the Bienal Internacional de Arte ES2002 [International Art Biennial ES2002], held at the Centro Cultural Tijuana (Baja California, Mexico).