FEDERICO URIBE
My culture andcountry shapemy art
MY ROOTS
GIVING BACK
OCEAN LIFE
How I am tryingto do my part inthis world
Because theocean deservesmy attention
beauty comes from nature
I AMFEDERICO
Federico Uribe’s work has becomeprominent internationally over the pastdecade, particularly in the United States,and has been collected by multiplemuseums, and featured in severalmuseum exhibitions across the country.Born and raised in Bogota, Colombia,Federico Uribe lives and works in Miami.His artwork resists classification. Rootedin the craft of sculpture and paint,Federico found soon his true métier: theability to discern the beauty in theeveryday objects that surrounded him.They became unusual instruments of anew aesthetic, full of color, irony, andlively playfulness. This material, soreadily at hand, transformed his workand his creativity burst forthapproaching his mature style. The artisttransforms objects from their original,utilitarian purposes to create boldlybeautiful sculptures and paintings.
CONTENT
My artwork resists classification. Rooted in thecraft of sculpture and paint, I found soon histrue métier: the ability to discern the beauty inthe everyday objects that surrounded him.
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ROOTED IN COLOMBIA
His work and his art are theexpression of an incrediblyculturally rich and diversenation.
PHILANTROPY
His active engagement innon-profit organizations.
OCEAN LIFE
His need to conserve marineenvironments and ecosystems.
FEDERICO X LATINGRAMMYS
In the artwork he created especiallyfor the 22nd Annual Latin GRAMMYAwards.
UNUSUALINSTRUMENTS OF ANEW AESTHETIC
The artist transforms objects from theiroriginal, utilitarian purposes to createboldly beautiful sculptures andpaintings.
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“As a recurrent intention in my work,I encourage the viewer to discover,beyond the sole function of anobject, an underlying symbolic andaesthetic reality where lifeovercomes death and beautysupplants destruction”Federico Uribe is pleased his art isspeaking to so many people andthat the imagery of his experienceresonates with his viewers. Humor,beauty, and love are essentially whatremain the memory of the viewer.Uribe makes art that surprises andengages.
"my way of beautycomes from naturedirectly"
Rooted in Colombia
Federico is an internationally acclaimed artist deeplyrooted in his native Colombia. His work and his artare the expression of an incredibly culturally rich anddiverse nation striving to overcome clichés,to heal its wounds and to look with hope into thefuture. In the hands of virtuoso artist Uribe, objects undergothis metamorphosisfrom an inanimate to a greater than life status. Hisimpeccable attention to detail leaves the viewerspeechless and breathless. He is proud to say thatanyone who has seen his art is sure to remember it.His work elicits excitement and curiosity in art loversand the viewers, and particularly inchildren.
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"I have this connectionwith the sounds of nature."
HUDSON MUSEUM
How was your childhood,surrounded by a lot of art?Not really. My father was a civilengineer; he had the head of anengineer. My mom was aneconomist. But if she was morecreative, she had an aestheticsense, refined and sophisticatedwithout pretense. She decoratedthe house with taste; my paternalgrandfather did saddlery as ahobby and made the reins of hishorses. Maybe I have somethingthere.What Colombian or foreign artistwas inspired to make his works?My work is more inspired bymainly Italian classical arthistory such as Caravaggio,Tiepolo, Titian, Michelangelo andLeonardo da Vinci. I have littlerelationship with contemporaryart, I don't read magazines andconceptual art bores me a lot. Iconfess my ignorance aboutColombian contemporary artsince I left the country more than30 years ago and when I go Ihave no contact.
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His installations often include music created especially to reflect his cultural heritageand life experience in all its fullness, be it Afro-Colombian rhythms or the chirping ofbirds. He works in a 5,000-square-foot warehouse in Miami or his palm-fringed studio inPereira, in the Colombian Andes. He has exhibited in galleries and museums in multiplecities in the United States and the world.
"I guess I make statements aboutprotecting the enviroment"
It is not only his cultural heritage that deeply connects Federico to Colombia:through his active engagement in non-profit organizations, such as the “Fundacióna la Rueda Rueda”, the “Fundación Corazón Verde” and “Give to Colombia”, he alsocontributes materially to the development of high impact social projects in hishomeland.
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Uribe took on the task of creating objects from the assemblyof materials such as shoelaces, cables, ties, pieces of coloredpencils and cut bullet shells, convinced that all objects havesymbolic weight in the collective memory and in the personal,they cannot be separated in the creative thinking. "One buildson the symbolic weight of objects," he says.“I am Colombian, I was born in a country at war and thepresence of violence and deaths, of the slaughter of animalsand people, have been inevitable. At the same time, a bullet islike a jewel, it is a golden cylinder, the aesthetic possibilities ofthis evil object are enormous; then, it is about separating theobject from its connotation and seeing it as texture, shape,color, in order to use it for your benefit, in your owndiscourse”.
The installation reflects on the indiscriminateuse of plastic, as well as on the ocean plasticpollution worldwide.
Daily plastic objects includingbottles, bottle caps, plastic cutlery, flip flops amongothers, are weaved in curious and unpredictableways. From a distance the assemblages appear tobe colorful and beautiful underwater worlds.
"I'm a romantic and Ilove the enviroment"
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Up close, one can see the hundreds of pieces of plastic, which are carefully cut and arranged. Theplastic reef – which bursts with colors and transports the viewer under water into a tropical oasis -confronts the viewer with a vibrant underwater world that reminds us of the fragility of life. Parts ofthe installation have been now moved to museums in the United States.
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federico uribe x latin grammys
In the artwork he created especially for the 22nd Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards, Uribe depicts music with a bouquet offlowers and gramophone horns outlined with wires and connectors. Uribe's work illustrates the offering of musicians totheir listeners and the connections that music creates between people. To represent that musical gift in the box on theshow's cover, he used parts of a sound system discarded by the New World Symphony in Miami. It is a typical gesture ofhis art, which gives another dimension to everyday things.
The piece was constructed using discardedcables by the Miami Symphony Orchestra,New World Symphony, and took five days tobe complete.
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I like the idea of drawing out andexploring the plastic possibilitiesof objects and making peoplewho see me feel that there isanother way of seeing reality,that objects are like words thatchange their meaning if youchange the context, says Uribe.Getting objects to disappear intheir useful condition to turnthem into just a communicationtool is nice and when I do, itmakes me smile.
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www.federicouribe.com

Federico Uribe

Visionary artist creating haunting mixed-media

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