GONZALO FUENMAYOR: DECOLORIZING THE CLICHÉ AT FERNANDO PRADILLA
Fernando Pradilla presents Depresión Tropical (Tropical Depression), Gonzalo Fuenmayor’s (Barranquilla, Colombia, 1977) third solo exhibition at the gallery. The show brings together a new series of charcoal drawings created specifically for its Madrid headquarters. In this latest body of work—caught between references to nature and the artificial, between chaos and tranquility—the artist offers a vision in which climate becomes a metaphorical instrument for personal and cultural transformation, as well as a certain historiography.
Employing surrealism as an aesthetic effect, Fuenmayor plays with the impact of juxtaposing seemingly opposing concepts. The visual contradiction between the overwhelming force of nature reclaiming its surroundings and the objects and spaces tied to power or archetypal representations—ones that have historically shaped external perceptions of Latin America, particularly from the United States—challenges those misguided interpretations.
In this vein, the exoticization of Latin America by external entities not only serves as a subject in Fuenmayor’s work but also functions as a conceptual tool. From opulent haciendas overtaken by untamed vegetation to the exotifying patina of decorative motifs and bird species captured in drawings or appropriated as cultural markers, the exhibition delves into the contradictions inherent in syncretism.
The ultimate aim of his work is to offer a critical perspective on history—on its role in shaping identities and on how power has distorted them. However, his portrayal of nature’s exuberance also underscores a force beyond human control, the one form of subjugation that power structures can neither fully suppress nor functionally confront.
Even so, Fuenmayor is primarily interested in the representation of this constructed visual and cultural narrative—albeit from a necessary critical stance. It is not just about material, moment, or culture, but about how these elements have woven an imaginary that is lush, vibrant, and abundant. Thus, his use of black and white in the creative process becomes a deliberate statement: a stripping away of unnecessary embellishments in pursuit of a more objective analysis.
Gonzalo Fuenmayor: Depresión Tropical is on view until April 30 at Galería Fernando Pradilla, Claudio Coello 20, Madrid, Spain.
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