Acquired directly from the artist Juan Gallo Gallery, Bogotá Private Collection, Bogotá Acquired from the above by the present owner
Literature
M. Iovino, et. al., concentroconcentradaconcentración + Delcy Morelos, Córdoba: Secretaría de Cultura, 2001, n.p. (illustrated)
Catalogue Essay
Delcy Morelos grew up in one of the most violent and dangerous parts of Colombia, where guerrilla and paramilitary groups constantly terrorized the local populations in search for control of the drug trade and mutual extermination. An artist of indigenous descent, Morelos' work deals with her constant search for the origins of violence and discrimination, and it has often been interpreted as a visual representation of the bain de sang in which Colombia has been immersed for the last five decades.
Most of her early works were executed in a neutral color palette of muted browns and reds that allude to the skin tones of her close relatives and friends. The present lot is from the highly acclaimed series Color que soy (1999-2002), in which the artist paints the surface with brown earth pigments taken from places that are significant to her. She then cuts the paper or canvas into geometric strips and hangs these on the wall, creating the visual effect of fragments of flesh. As a result of the mix of many races since the beginnings of the Spanish colonization, people from the Colombian Atlantic coast usually have a wide array of skin tones, and there can be discrimination between racial groups. Color que soy is about the inherent beauty of every skin tone, and it represents a sort of exorcism for Morelos from her difficult upbringing. Through the use of color, it is charged with social impact due to the aesthetic and physical interplay between one's identity and body.