Doris Salcedo

Bogotá, Colombia, 1958

            Doris Salcedo is acclaimed as one of the most prominent Latin American artists on the global contemporary scene, delving into the open wounds of Colombian history, addressing poetically and forcefully the pain generated by violence, social and political exclusion, death, and suffering. Throughout her career, Salcedo has used sculpture expansively and backed her work with rigorous experiential research. The collection of everyday objects, often furniture from devastated homes or clothing from missing persons, becomes symbols and metaphors of emptiness, images of absence that shape pain, trauma, and loss.

            The artist directly engages with the most vulnerable areas of Colombia, engaging with relatives of murder victims and using these testimonies as a starting point for the creation of her works. Salcedo self-identifies as a sculptor in the service of the victims, conceiving her work as a kind of funeral prayer, seeking to erect the principles of a "poetics of mourning." She believes that through mourning, the most human action, dignity and humanity stolen by violence can be restored. Unlike turning violence into a spectacle, her creations are not only visual testimonies of tragedy but also acts of memory aimed at generating awareness and empathy.

            Doris Salcedo's work, marked by sensitivity, poetry, and conceptual depth, significantly contributes to the understanding and reflection on the impacts of social and political conflicts. Her work has been exhibited in art institutions and museums worldwide over the past two decades. Some of the most notable exhibitions include those at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid, 2017), MAXXI (Rome, 2012), Moderna Museet (Malmö, 2011), Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (Mexico City, 2011), Tate Modern (London, 2007), Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), New Museum (New York, 1998), or the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Additionally, she has participated in international art biennials such as the XXIV São Paulo Biennial (1998), Trace, the Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art (1999), and Documenta 11, Kassel (2002).