CV   CONTACT ENGLISH   ESPAÑOL
Fernando Arias

has lived and work in Colombia and England for the last 20 years. Through video, photography, installation and live events, amongst other techniques, he deals with the human condition; from physical and mental states to cultural and social conditioning. Issues of sex, religion, drug politics and identity are themes present in his work. The outputs are often confrontational, creating a consciousness in the participants, and a better understanding of the issues they face within the wider society when presented.

READ MORE
 

More Art More Action is a cultural organisation based in Colombia led by Fernando Arias and arts manager Jonathan Colin.

READ MORE
.
www.masartemasacción.org
GERENTE Magazine is the equivalent to Bussines Week in Latinamerica. For the December 2009 issue, Arias has been included within the 100 leaders in Colombia.
Read article
PROTEST THE POPE

Banner proposed to support  Protest the Pope campaign and Richard's petition to arrest the Pope for "crimes against humanity" during his visit to London in September 2010.

See www.richarddawkins.net

.
Sign petition here
DORADO
A project that explores Colombia's identity and memory surrounding the gold "Quimbaya" treasure given to Spain as a present in 1892. An official petition for the repatriation of the collection is being submited to the Spanish authorities. 122 people from different disciplines are invited to express their reflections about it.
.
Blog
EXTRA-ORDINARY SESSIONS

A series of unexpected actions. They include me passing through an x-ray at Bogota airport; wearing a ‘Lets pretend life is beautiful jacket’ at an arranged wedding in London; wearing the t-shirt ‘If one is disappeared then what? ONE LESS’ at peace marches and demonstrations in Bogotá.

 
SEE
PAIS PARA QUIEN
Living outside Colombia for many years broadened my points of reference and gave me a new objectivity when considering what I had left behind.   Distance helped me to focus on aspects of Colombia’s identity whilst simultaneously returning frequently to the place that inspired these reflections.

Colombia's national emblems, its religious influences, the drug trade, violence, its macho sexuality and the repression of minority perspectives were themes I began to explore.
READ MORE
See photos
See 'El Espectador' review
MICROmacro
13 Salón Regional de Artistas

Fernando Arias and Jonathan Colin won a Ministry of Culture Award to co-curate the XIII Regional Salon 2009/10. Through open submission and direct invitation eighteen projects were selected.
READ MORE
MORE ON THE PROCESS
The link bellow will open Más Arte Más Acción's website
.
Photos of the exhibition
Download catalogue on pdf
More
DONOR WANTED
For two decades and from various perspectives Fernando Arias has reflected upon the human condition, throughout which Colombia's conflict has been an important context. 

Now at the end of a series of works that have considered kidnapping and disappearances, the quality of information offered by our mass media, the power and the vulnerability of men and women, Fernando invites those who may be in the final stages of their life, due to various circumstances, to offer their own cremated ashes for an "artistic cause". 
READ MORE
SEE VIDEO
go to www.lasillavacia.com
VIDEO
MORE
Plan B
See Video Installation
HUMANOS DERECHOS
ISRAEL - PALESTINE 
A Prince Claus Fund award enabled Arias to travel to Israel and Palestine in March 2009. His aim was to produce a work based on the same principles as Humanos Derechos in Colombia.

The three-week visit led to complex and unsettling findings, challenging Arias' initial aim to reveal each side's common humanity. On this visit he interviewed people involved in the conflict and also intervened in Israel using graffiti, documenting it and producing a series of photographs that question the idea of state and territory. 
SEE PHOTOS
HUMANOS DERECHOS
COLOMBIA
Humanos Derechos focuses on the human aspects of people directly involved in c onflicts and wars. It also looks at how our social environment and the circumstances within which we are raised lead to hatred and intolerance.

"Realising how complex the issues in Colombia's conflict have become made me want to strip away these layers of complexities and touch base once more with our common humanity" says Arias.


READ MORE
SEE VIDEO
RE-ERECCION
In 2006 Colombia's first Presidential re-elections took place. The popular right-wing president Alvaro Uribe initiated constitutional changes that allowed him to stand for a second term, despite human rights groups accusing him of being linked to paramilitary operations.
READ MORE
SEE VIDEO
GOD DOES NOT EXIST
In this video, Arias encounters a young missionary on the streets of Bogota from the Raeliana sect - the protagonists of a controversial and ethical affair relating to a cloned girl. The sect mixes various quasi-scientific, biblical and science fiction writings to form their beliefs. The video draws out some of the contradictions during the d iscussion.
SEE VIDEOS
FOR LOVE AND MONEY
For Love and Money was a radio project for Frieze Art Fair 2006. Artists and cultural workers at the thin end of the financial wedge were invited to react to the notion of an art fair, moving the agenda away from profit and towards a greater sympathy concerning the purpose of art in society. The shows were broadcast from the Resonance FM booth at the Frieze Art Fair 2006.
READ MORE
LISTEN
INFIDELITY
- Why are you writing on this board?
Asked one of the guards at the Pabellón Cuba during the 5th Havanna Biennial.
I stopped painting and asked him:
- Writing what?
He pointed at the wooden platform I was standing on and replied:
-That.
-Writing what?
I insisted again, inviting him to pronounce the word I was writing.
READ MORE
THE STORY OF ARIAS
To coincide with his solo exhibition at London Printworks Trust in Brixton, Arias was commissioned to create a multiple artwork, La Historia de Arias. All twelve copies with an 'appendix' containing the artist's own work from 1991 to 1998 were simultaneously exhibited in galleries and libraries around Britain.
READ MORE
SEE Works 1990 - 1998
LEGO COFFIN
Homage to the children of the war on drugs.
NECESSARY JOURNEYS
VIDEO/PHOTOGRAPHY
SNAPSHOT VIDEO STILLS
SEE VIDEO EXTRACT
PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION
MORE
HALF-TRUTHS
Half-truths was an action based on an editorial published jointly by 31 Colombian papers and journals on 18th February 2008. It denounced censorship by the State that not only violated their right to tell the truth but also the rights of common citizens to be told the truth.

From the point of view of a Colombian citizen, my concern was how much damage censorship causes and how it contributes to ignorance, blindness and uncertainty. This type of censorship adds to a climate of fear and is used as a form of political control.
READ MORE
Download Editorial (spanish)
LOCOMBIA
A project conceived by Fernando Arias that presented work by four other Colombian artists in London through residencies, exhibitions, performances and a final event.

Supported by Arts Council England.
In collaboration with Gasworks and Space Studios
CONFORM TO SURVIVE
A video-project to coincide with the Protest to Survive exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery London. Arias interviewed young people from the local Bangladeshi community living near the Whitechapel about their survival tactics. The video was shown at the gallery during the exhibition. He also produced stickers with the words 'Conform to Survive' and plastered them around the neighbourhood during the exhibition.
SEE VIDEO (Extracts)
SPIRIT LEVEL
On my second day at Big River 2, I was presented with one of the most enigmatic human conditions: M had a manic-depressive crisis. The experience was intense and affected me and everyone else around. M left the workshop for a psychiatric hospital and from that moment I had the strange feeling that I was him.
READ MORE
LISTEN
ONLINE MAGAZINE
Special Edition published by El Andariego Productions.

In 2007 Fernando Arias and Jonathan Colin made a journey from London to Choco in Colombia travelling over land for large parts of the journey.

.
See Magazine
The Design and Artists Copyright Society protects Fernando Arias' art work.
.
DACS
NAME
E-MAIL
COMMENT