I’m excited to announce that the artwork Mattress, 1988 is part of the of the exhibition La buena vida. Obras de la colección del Banco de la República at the MAMM Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín in Colombia, curated by Emiliano Valdés, Ana Ruiz y Cristina Vasco.

The exhibition brings together some artworks from one of the most complete collections of Colombian art, representing one of the few times that this collection has been exhibited outside of the network of cultural centers of Colombia’s central bank. La buena vida includes some of the most significant works of Colombian art of the last seventy years, as a way of showcasing what has been important in the country in terms of individual and collective life choices.

The exhibition will be open until March 31, 2024.

About Mattress, 1988:

Nylon stockings filled with dirt were packed in the size and shape of a mattress, resembling bodies or body parts.  They reminded me of the story of the princess and the pea.  As a Colombian, I wondered how we could sleep over so many deaths.   

In the late eighties I did a lot of artworks with Pantyhose as a material that gave form and content.  Sexualised crotches hiding construction buckets.  A mattress made out of pantyhose filled with dirt, reminiscent of body parts. Hairy leg shapes where green grass and roots grow. Wall installations where the pantyhose were stretched the way you would a hide to dry.  The many shades of pinks and browns were substitute for female skins.

More information about the series DIRT, POTATOES, GRASS, SAND in here.

More information about the exhibition here. (in Spanish)

Exhibition: La buena vida. Obras de la colección del Banco de la República
Curators: Emiliano Valdés y Ana Ruiz
Courtesy: Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (MAMM)
Photos: Yohan López