Juan Araujo
Juan Araujo (1971, Caracas, Venezuela) presently lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal. In the last few years, his work has revealed his interest in how the principles of European modern and post-modern architecture have travelled to South America and influenced, there, the development of the 20th century Latin-American architecture and urbanism. The work of Araujo is a web of connections, references and narratives that direct the observer’s attention to the work of architects like Luis Barragán (1902, Guadalajara, Mexico – 1988, Mexico City, Mexico), Burle Marx (1909, São Paulo, Brazil – 1994, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Lina Bo Bardi (1914, Rome, Italy – 1992, São Paulo) or artists like Josef Albers (1888, Bottrop, Westphalia, Germany – 1976, New Haven, Connecticut, USA), Mark Rothko (1903, Daugavpils, Letonia – 1970, New York, USA) and, more recently, Jorge Molder (1947, Lisbon).
In this way, Araujo has been developing his work in painting and drawing, defining a map of relations, that oscillate between recent western history, modernist architecture and the thought on the labyrinth of references that define creative processes.
He participated in numerous group exhibitions and biennales, including the Contemporay Art Biennale of Coimbra, Portugal (2017); Jewish Museum, New York (2016); Contemporary Art Museum, Detroit, USA (2015); Triennial of Aichi, Nagoya, Japan (2010); São Paulo Modern Art Museum (2009); Sharjah Biennale, United Arab Emirates (2009); Mercosul Biennale, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2007); São Paulo Biennale (2006); San Diego Art Museum, USA (2005) and American National Society, New York (2005).
His work is represented in public collections such as the MoMA, New York, USA; Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom; Fundación Mercantil, Caracas; Centro Gallego de Arte Contemporáneo, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Inhotim, Modern Art Centre, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; National Art Gallery, Caracas; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas.
PS, November 2020
