Bogotá hosts the exhibition by artist Juliana Ríos

Bogotá hosts the exhibition by artist Juliana Ríos: A Journey Through the Traditions of La Guajira
Painting is how Ríos tells stories of the Caribbean. The exhibition is available at Torres Atrio.
In Villanueva, time moves at a slow pace, guided by the gentle sway of rural life and the vibrant colors of the landscape. Located between the Serranía del Perijá and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, this town is located in the south of the department of La Guajira. There, nature sets the pace of life: this is what visual artist Juliana Ríos wanted to tell the world.
Identity, tradition, nature, and humanity are elements that come together in Ríos' exhibition, Encounters and New Paths. The selection of pieces spans more than a decade of the Colombian artist's career. The three series (Famous Landscapes, Distant Places, The Harvest, and Pilgrimages) invite us to understand the everyday life of a municipality that represents the Caribbean and the country through resilience and hope.
The space welcomes viewers with banana plants scattered across the ground: a symbol to change the negative connotation of saying that "the country is a banana plantation." It will be available to the public in the LT Projects space at León Tovar Gallery, in the Torres Atrio in Bogotá, until June 15.
Those who wish to explore more of Ríos can do so at the Santa Clara Museum (in the Historic Center) temporary exhibition, which runs through this month. The Promise recreates the procession of the Virgin of Remedies in Riohacha. This exhibition addresses themes such as religious devotion, connection with Mother Earth, empathy, and social issues such as teenage pregnancy.
“In 2018, in the Artecámara section of ArtBo, I saw a series of 152 landscapes, beautifully rendered in watercolor, a technique that allows for no mistakes. The machismo we carry is harsh: at the time, I thought the artist was a man, one of those stale ones. Then, I realized the shades of the skies changed, and I discovered she was a painter of excellent quality and great sensitivity. We bought her entire collection. She couldn't believe it, because she had knocked on so many doors,” says León Tovar.
This was Juliana Ríos's first encounter with León Tovar Gallery, one of the most important references for Latin American art in the world, located in New York. Seven years later, Ríos presents her story in a space dedicated to promoting national art, after having taken her work around the world. In fact, last year she participated in the Bregaglia Biennial. In an interview with EL TIEMPO, the artist reveals the details of her work, which, according to Tovar, “sounds like a vallenato guitar.”
Why does she choose Villanueva as the epicenter of her works?
Right now, Villanueva is my place in the world. The house where my studio is located used to be my great-grandparents' home, and I restored it in 2019. There I can see the unique characteristics of the landscape. The color, for example, changes depending on where you are and the weather conditions. I experienced this when I took two trips, one from Alta Guajira to Mompox; and another from Alaska to Punta Gallinas, which I obtained thanks to a scholarship (the results of these works were exhibited at Artecámara at ArtBo).
You think the landscape is static, but the sky and the colors change all the time. For example, in a place like Villanueva, the color is very special because it's next to the mountains, and La Guajira represents that contrast of the country: an arid land yet one full of plants and fruits. All of this is related to my work. In Villanueva, in addition to bringing me closer to my origins (because my mother is from there), I see the colors of the Caribbean, the colors of La Guajira.
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