3 Perspectives

3 Perspectives showcases three remarkable artists awarded the CIFO 2007 Commission: Eugenio Espinoza, Alvaro Oyarzún, and José Alejandro Restrepo. Although their artistic styles differ significantly, they all share extensive and notable careers—over thirty years for Espinoza and two decades for Oyarzún and Restrepo—producing work deeply rooted in contemporary critical discourse.

CIFO is honored to present the 2007 Achievement Commission to Eugenio Espinoza, recognizing his impactful contributions to contemporary art as he navigates the mid-career phase of his journey. Since the early 1970s, Espinoza has been pushing the grid's boundaries in geometric abstraction. In 3 Perspectives, he unveils his recent "sculptural paintings," which challenge traditional notions of genre and medium. Each piece features a collection of canvases in varying sizes, adorned with painted grids, precariously balanced on objects like a car jack or a ceramic teddy bear, with remnants of previous improvisations—such as brackets and screws—left on the walls.

Alvaro Oyarzún, a self-taught artist, delves into fundamental questions about art: What is it? Who is the artist? What constitutes a work of art? Through painting, drawing, cartooning, text, and, more recently, photography, he narrates, reinterprets, and interrogates the world around him. His monumental "paintings" consist of hundreds of smaller works across various media, juxtaposing abstract pieces with botanical drawings, landscapes, caricatures infused with irony, grotesque inventions, and naïve portraits. For 3 Perspectives, Oyarzún presents La imagen pintada o los más bellos recuerdos de la vida del Capitán Zanahoria [The Painted Image or the Most Beautiful Memories of the Life of Captain Carrot]. This work embodies irony—a hallmark of Oyarzún's art—and reflects his exploration of the archetypal wanderer, who, in his aimless searching, discovers his true path.

José Alejandro Restrepo utilizes video to examine how "knowledge" is shaped by our cultural values, political ambitions, and personal desires. His works explore the dialectical relationship between colonial history and contemporary issues in Latin America, offering complex insights into current realities. Recently, Restrepo has focused on iconography and religious beliefs in Colombia, revealing connections between political events, personal tragedies, mass media, and the lingering effects of colonialism. His videos provide a haunting perspective on violence and its profound impact on the human experience.