Nelson Gutierrez (b. 1968, Bogota, Colombia) holds a BA degree in Fine Art from the Universidad de Bogota Jorge Tadeo Lozano in Bogota, Colombia and a MA degree in Fine Arts from Chelsea College of Art and Design in London, UK. He worked as a professor in the Fine Arts Departments at the Universidad de los Andes and the Universidad de Bogota Jorge Tadeo Lozano, in Bogota, Colombia. In 2002, he moved to the USA where he has kept developing and showing his artwork in addition to working as a Teaching Artist for different organizations such as Arts for Learning in Miami, FL, and Children’s Studio School in Washington, DC. During this time, he also attended the Corcoran College of Art where he did coursework in the MFA program. His work has been exhibited around the US and also internationally in Colombia, the UK, and Switzerland, and it is part of private and public collections.
He lives and works in Memphis, TN where he has served as an Exhibition Committee Member for the Brooks Museum of Arts, an Artist Advisory Council Member at ArtsMemphis, and an Official Advisor for Locate Arts in Nashville, TN. He is the Founder of Future Project Art, formerly 2021 Projects, a Contemporary Art collective, dedicated to increasing the awareness for, appreciation of, and involvement in, the visual arts in the Mid-South.
Artist Statement
My work has explored the psychological and social implications of conflict. The work is composed of two and three-dimensional pieces, conceptual objects, and installations that reflect current sociopolitical issues as well as personal memories related to history or past events. Different mediums are used to express feelings of collective longing, fear, grief, resilience, and hope. In the end, my work hopes to speak to our shared humanity in a way that is relatable to all.
My practice involves several years of work and research, personal observations and experiences, and exploration of different artistic mediums around a central interest: the constant struggle of individuals and communities at large for a better life, resilience, hope, and the search for common ground. The work is informed by personal and collective memories, by people I have met, places where I have lived and visited, environments, and events that have formed and influenced my life and therefore my work throughout my career.
The recent series of works “A Journey into the Shadows” is based on forced displacement and global migration, it uses tridimensional cutout drawings and different sources of light and shadows, this body of work is an exploration into the practice of drawing, addressing this practice in ways that expand its traditional limits.
Using formal elements of drawing, the 3D works depict walking individuals, which with lights, cast overlapping shadows that create masses of unrecognizable crowds, presenting a flexible, alternative world that can be modified, drawn, and redrawn.
