DANIEL OTERO TORRES
b. 1985, ColombiaThe work of Daniel Otero Torres is grounded on the re-construction of ideology through drawings done by hand over aluminium and steel. Moving in the frontier between drawing and sculpture, Otero Torres’ origami-like constructions appear at first as uncanny grand-format black and white photographs. Upon closer inspection, one realises the images are in fact handmade drawings, laboriously done with graphite pencils over a flat surface that has the visual weightlessness of paper but the actual density of metal.
The artist’s unusual technique succeeds in creating a dislocation of materials as well as of contexts: his images often represent not a single individual but a visual and historical collage created from a number of sources: from antique archives and books, to found images in contemporary newspapers or online sources that reflect the artist’s process of understanding the role of marginalised or largely ignored populations that have, nonetheless, played essential roles in recent and past history around the world.
His works have been exhibited in numerous institutions such as the MACAAL, Marrakech; the Espacio 23 of the Jorge Perez Collection, Miami; Musée Régional d’Art Contemporain MRAC Sérignan, France, including his solo exhibition (Dé)placements (2017) and the collective show Bandes à part (2018); CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, Chine (2017); Contemporary Art Centre of Villeurbanne, Rhône-Alpes, France (2016); Kunstverein Sparkasse, Leipzig, Germany (2014); Heidelberg Kunstverein, Germany (2011); and the Bullukian Foundation, Lyon, France (2010), among others. Recent projects include large scale installations in La Tôlerie, Clermont Ferrand, France (2019); FLAX Foundation, Los Angeles, US (2019); and Drawing Lab Paris, France (2021).
Daniel Otero Torres has been a resident of the Villa Belleville (2015-2016); Moly-Sabata Residency in Les Sablons, France (2014); the Cité des arts de Paris (2011-2012), and L’attrape-couleurs in Lyon, France. He has been Laureate at the Drawing Lab Paris (2021); awarded the Hors les murs creation and research program award by the French Institute; the Prix Rhône-Alpes de la Jeune Création, Rendez-vous 15, Biennale de Lyon; and the prize of the Conseil Général of the École Nationale des Beaux Arts in Lyon.
Text courtesy Sabrina Amrani
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