Fernando Arias

Fernando Arias is a Colombian multidisciplinary artist and activist born in Armenia, Colombia, in 1963, who lives and works between Bogotá, London, and the Pacific Coast region of Chocó. His practice spans video, photography, sculpture, installation, and performance, often employing irony and dark humour to confront Colombia’s political violence, social inequalities, and environmental degradation. Deeply shaped by activism, Arias’s work seeks to give voice to marginalised communities while critically examining the repressive dynamics of political and religious institutions, including their impact on gender and sexuality. Internationally recognised since the 1990s, he represented Colombia at the 48th Venice Biennale in 1999, and his work is held in major public collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá. In 2011, he co-founded the non-profit foundation Más Arte Más Acción (MAMA) with Jonathan Colin, establishing a long-term platform in the Chocó rainforest that brings together art, ecology, and community-led struggles through interdisciplinary research and residency-based projects.