José Alejandro Restrepo

Bogotá, Colombia, 1959

            Fascinated by the writings of travelers and the engravings that accompanied the texts of ancient books, José Alejandro Restrepo found a publication that would mark him forever: "Musa paradisíaca". He himself said that his first interpretation of the woman sitting under a banana tree was that she was the muse. However, some time later he learned that the title was actually the scientific name of the banana tree and that there was another species called "Musa Sapientum". In his artistic hypothesis, Restrepo claims that the banana is the fruit of knowledge. Through a series of works, he attempts to show its arrival and transplantation in the American continent, as he questions the universe of taxonomies and seeks to set traps to the whole system of European rationalism. 

            Throughout his career, he has developed a research focused on the relationship between art, body, and religion. Many of his works reflect on submission and violence, on life and death, on the earthly and the sublime. An example of this is the series Santo Job, an audiovisual work of a half-naked man, apparently asleep, covered by a layer of leaves and bush branches. These leaves serve as a dwelling and food for silkworms that will slowly transform into butterflies. This piece establishes a perfect relationship between art, biology, and one of the most widely read texts of the New Testament: The Book of Job, which tells the story of one of God's most faithful servants who is tempted and subjected to difficult trials by Satan, with God's approval, as a test of his devotion.

            With a strong political commitment, Restrepo moves between video, photography, theater and performance to denounce the massacres and violence of a conquest that does not cease and to seek new meanings to our narratives, that is, to rewrite the story we have been told.  In his extensive career, he participated, among others, in the 52nd Venice Biennial, the Mercosur Biennial and the Lyon Biennial. He has also exhibited at the Musée du Quai Branly and The Museum of Fine Arts, among other important institutions.