Adriana Ciudad

Born in: 1980
From: Lima, Peru
Lives and works: Bogota, Colombia
Represented by: Crisis
Website: https://www.adrianaciudad.com/

UN goals

Biography

Working closely with indigenous communities in Colombia and Peru, Adriana Ciudad’s body of work intends to raise awareness on the importance of salvaging ancestral knowledge. Using different sets of media such as painting, sculpture, installation, music and even video, Ciudad investigates and celebrates how these communities live, mourn, heal as well as their deep connexion with nature. Her work, Proyecto Alabaos, reflects on the mystery of death while valuing the healing powers of the Afro Colombian rituals of mourning.

The work of Dr. Suzanne Simard has had an impact in Ciudad’s artistic practice as it corroborates ancient beliefs stating that trees and plants communicate through underground networks. Trees are intelligent living beings cooperating to exchange nutrients to defend the forest.

Although she’s not part of any indigenous community, her work differs from that of Western artists from the past like Paul Gauguin, as she seeks to create a lasting bond with the groups she works with. She does not indulge in exoticization but prefers to represent their cosmology and everyday life as accurate as possible.

Career highlights

Solo shows

2018, Museo La Tertulia, Cali, Bogotá: Allá nos veremos, sin sombra y sin faz
2018, Galería El Museo, Bogotá, Colombia: Salgan ríos de mis ojos
2016, Wu Galería, Lima, Peru: Sensibilia
2015, Galería El Museo, Bogotá, Colombia: Debajo del Agua
2012, Commonwealth and Council Gallery, Los Angeles, USA: Cloudbusting

Group shows

2019, Crisis, Lima, Peru: Una habitación propia
2019, tegenboschvanvreden, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Rivers flow out of my eyes
2017, SACO 6, Muelle Melbourne Clark, Antofagasta, Chile: AMOR: Decadencia y Resistencia
2016, Casa del Lago, Mexico City, Mexico: Espesa Savia
2014, Die Galerie, Frankfurt, Germany: From Berlin’s Perspective