Sair Garcia
Info
MAGDALENA
Rivers in Colombia as well as in much of Latin America have been part in the events of the countries in all their periods, especially as a means of transportation and communication. But in recent decades they have also served as silent witnesses to injustices and unfortunate events, especially the Río Grande de la Magdalena in Colombia, whose only name is synonymous of pain and of repentance, around which it has turned primarily the work of Sair García.
Contrary to what is thought almost in a generalized and equivocal way, the Colombian region of Magdalena Medio has a past that dates back more than 12,000 years, from the first settlements in this vast territory bathed torrentially by the Yuma River (now Magdalena), owner of real archaeological treasures currently threatened by extractivism. However, in spite of the mass extermination of the peoples, even today forms of being, doing and living survive, which are invisible most of the time, but which recover founding traditions of the different riverside cultures throughout the latter. Read more…
Sair Garcia
Platanera, Serie Magdalena (polyptych – 4 pieces), 2017
Oil on bronze sheet
60 x 120 cm
The personal chronicle and the autobiographical self are sensitive keys when it comes to contemplating the artist and his work. The series „Magdalena“ is loaded with images, atmospheres and common places on the banks of the Rio Grande, which remind us that the magdalénicos, these amphibian beings still live there, in a world that moves like the river itself. The work reveals, on the one hand, fragments of everyday beauty, creative life; and on the other, subtle and subtle scenes that remind us of the real and symbolic violence that inexorably results in pain and loss. His paintings replicate the future of the river, its sinuosities and apparent placid flow, and it does so by using steel as a support, a metal that is not only reminiscent of its waters by its color and texture, but also by its ductive nature, as a transmitter, manifests an attribute that it shares with the river in its function of mental and physical demarcation that complements eloquently and coherently the metaphor.
„Magdalena“ is the plastic result of a four-year investigation into the development of the most important river in Colombia, the Rio Grande de La Magdalena. This series deals with the different scenarios that it provides, as well as the route that it makes by the different peoples and the events that come from it, from the landscapes to the poor use of its waters, which at social level represents a great impact on their people. The river – because of its capacity to contain and drag – causes strangeness in the route as an extension always renewed and unattainable, marginalized by the deterioration. The feeling of desolation is used by the painting with softness and subtlety, and we see then how the natures are exchanged for the sake of a constant transfiguration of forms, means, as well as systems of image and painting to speak of a simple and complex thing to the same time: the landscape.
Exhibition
Studies
1994 – 1996 Plastic Arts, University Antonio Nariño, Bucaramanga, Colombia.
1996 – 2001 Plastic Arts, National University, Bogota, Colombia.
Solo Exhibitions
2016
Magdalena, Klaus Steinemetz Arte Contemporáneo, San José de Costa Rica
2015
Magdalena, El Nogal Club, Bogota, Colombia
2014
Magdalena, Sandra Montenegro Contemporary Art, Miami, Fl
2013
Magdalena, Beatriz Esguerra Arte, Bogota, Colombia.
Exodus, Theater Santiago Londoño, Carlos Drews Castro Chamber, Pereira Colombia.
2010
Mathematical Logics, Galería Christopher Paschall s. XXI, Bogota, Colombia.
2008
Atmospheres and Stilt Houses Montealegre Galería de Arte, Bogota, Colombia.
At he Other Side, ADN Galería, Cali, Colombia
2007
The True Widow, Please Stand Up. Galería La Cometa, Bogota, Colombia.
2006
Parallel Realities, Arte Consultores Galería, Bogota, Colombia.
Silences, Gyvathayim National Theater, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
2005
Silences, Consulate of Colombia in Frankfurt, Germany.
Silences, Synart Art Gallery, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
2004
Exodus, Artecamara, Chamber of Commerce of, Bogota, Colombia.
Magdalena, Galería Valenzuela y Klenner Contemporary Art, Bogota, Colombia.
2003
Silences, Fabiola Gonzales Ángel Galería Cali, Colombia.
Silences, Galería La Cometa, Bogota, Colombia.
Encounters, Galería Latinoamericana, Casa de las Américas, La Habana, Cuba.
2002
Paintings. Sair García, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Barrancabermeja, Colombia.
Earth in Verse Public Library Gabriel Turbay, Bucaramanga, Colombia.
Lost Paradise, Cultural Center Cultural, Universidad de Salamanca
2001
Poetry of Sadness, Universidad de Panamá. Ciudad de Panamá
Collective Exhibitions
2017
Zona MACO Mexico Contemporary Art Fair, Mexico
2016
Art Stage Fair, Singapore
Art Lima Fair, Peru
Feria Barcu, Bogotá, Colombia
Feria Artbo, Bogotá, Colombia
Art Context Fair, Miami Fl, USA
Scope Fair, Miami Fl, USA
2015
Art Stage Fair, Singapore
Art Fair Lima, Peru
Art Context Fair, Miami Fl, USA
XII Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba.
North Of The Border, Art Hall, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2014
Open Lounges, Chamber of Commerce of Bucaramanga, Bucaramanga, Colombia.
2013
Painting Occurs Here Also, Galería Christopher Paschall S.XXI, Bogota, Colombia.
De-materialized Nature, NC Contemporary Art, Bogota, Colombia.
Rewind, Winners of the National University Art Venue, Artes Guerrero Academy, Bogota, Colombia.
2012
Escaping with the Landscape, Sandra Montenegro Contemporary Art, Miami Fl, USA
Scope New York, International Art Fair, New York, NY, USA.
XXI Ibero-American Art Fair FIA 2012, Caracas, Venezuela.
2011
Colombia Underground, Hardcore Art Contemporary Space & Galería Christopher Paschall S. XXI, Miami .FL.
XX Ibero-American Art Fair FIA 2011, Caracas, Venezuela.
Houston Fine Art Fair, George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, USA.
Ethnical Groups 11, Centre Culturel de Rencontre Abbaye de Neumunster, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
BE PART, Art Auction, New York, NY, USA.
2010
Contemporary Art From Colombia, Witzenhausen Gallery, Chelsea, New York, NY, USA.
Art Beijing, Art Fair, Beijing, People’s Republic of China.
Pinta Art Fair, The Modern& Contemporary Latin American Art Show, London, UK.
Scope Basel Art Show, International Contemporary Art, Basel, Switzerland.
2009
Latin Art Brussels, Ethnical Group 2010, Brussels, Belgium.
2008
5DE Internacionale Foto en kunst tentoonstelling. Special guest, Latin American Art. Watermolenwal, Heule, Belgium.
The Latin Eye, Benetton Foundation, Milan Italia.
The Latin Eye, Benetton Foundation, Contemporary Art Museum, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
XXth Century Colombian Drawings. Galería La Cometa, Bogota, Colombia.
2007
XVI Ibero-American Art Venue. MIGRATION Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington D.C, USA.
2006
First Art Venue Fernando Botero, Corferias, Bogota, Colombia.
Place/ No Place, or space between things. New Names Program, Library Luis Ángel Arango, Bogota, Colombia.
Art Bo, International Art Far Bogota, Corferias, Bogota Colombia.
Resistances, Colombo-French Alliance, Pereira, Colombia.
2005
Limits, Gilberto Alzate Avendaño Foundation, Bogota, Colombia
II Bi-dimensional Art Venue Gilberto Alzate Avendaño Foundation. Bogota. Colombia.
2004
Fresh Painting, Chamber of Commerce of Bogota, Bogota, Colombia.
2003
Sample 2.International Contemporary Art Fair, Mexico City, Mexico, D.F.
2002
Creative Incitements Human Figure, Instituto de Cultura Brazil-Colombia, Bogota, Colombia.
2002
Creative Incitements Human Figure, Instituto de Cultura Brazil-Colombia,Bogota, Colombia.
New Colombian Painting Tour: Hall of Lost Steps UNESCO, Paris France.
Halls of Gallery ETAJ 3/4 of the National Theater of Bucarest, Romania.
Art Museum, Constanta Romania.
City Hall Cultural Center, Athens, Greece.
Art Museum Szombathely, Hungary.
2001
VI National Universitary Art Venue, FENALCO Bogota, Colombia.
PHILIPS Art Prize for Young Talents, Bogota, Colombia.
PHILIPS Art Prize for Young Talents, Marta Traba Hall, Latin American Memorial, Sao Paulo Brazil.
IX National Painting Venue, Banco Ganadero, Bogota, Colombia
Awards
2001 PHILIPS Art Award for Young Talents, Bogotá, Colombia. First prize.
VI National Exhibition of University Art, FENALCO, Bogotá, Colombia. Second prize.
PHILIPS Award for Art for Young Talents, Marta Traba Hall, Memorial of Latin America, São Paulo, Brazil. First prize.
IX National Painting Exhibition, Banco Ganadero, Bogotá, Colombia. First prize.
2005 II. Two-Dimensional Art Show, Fundación Gilberto Alzate Avendaño, Bogotá, Colombia. Honorable Mention.
2006 I Fernando Botero Award, Corferias, Bogotá, Colombia. FINALIST.
2007 XVI Art Hall Ibero American MIGRATION Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington D.C, Usa. First Prize Colombia.
Collections
Collection Luciano Benetton, Milan, Italy.
Collection of the Bank Republic of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
Collection c21 Museum, Louisville Kentucky, USA.
Private collection Cesar Gaviria Trujillo, Bogotá, Colombia.
Collection Memorial Museum of Latin America, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Unesco Collection, Paris, France.
Collection National Museum Givatayim Theater, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Collection Pierre and Sonia Falcone, Miami, USA.
