Federico Uribe

Biography

Uribe grew up in Bogota, Colombia and attended the University of Los Andes. He continued to study painting in New York under the guidance of Luis Camnitzer. He has lived in Miami since 2000.

Uribe describes his early work as "painful paintings relating to religion." In 1996 he turned away from oil paint and "started playing with objects." He realized that is calling was not to draw or paint on canvas, but rather to mold objects into vibrants images.

Style and technique

Uribe finds opportunity and plasticity in bits and pieces that society associates with one particular task and repurposes them into beautiful works of art. He creates images that are assemblages of items such as colored shoe laces and pins, cut up pieces of color pencils, or electrical wires and components. His work is "constructed and woven in ways, curious and unpredictable, intricate and compulsive. Handcraft is essential to Uribe, who embraces a tradition of exquisitely made objects. 'I like the idea,' he says, 'of leaving my materials visible as a testimony of my process and how much work I put into it.'"

Uribe transmits his feelings inspired by books that he listens to or classical paintings that he recalls. Many of his pieces draw from Old Master paintings, such as Leonardo, Velazquez, and others; however, the artist chose not to make these references the focus of his message. The potential narratives or supposed meaning seen in his work are not meant to promote any particular ideology; rather, the artist wants the imagery of his experience to resonate with his viewers. According to Uribe, "If you relate to the objects, good. If it makes you smile, better. If it makes you think, I'm sure you're not thinking what I thought." Thus, the "plastic language" of his media, which transmits his emotional response to the world, hopes to relay a feeling - rather than a specific thought- to the viewer.

Selected solo exhibitions