Dec 17, 2022
Celebrating Ana Mercedes Hoyos
This Doodle’s Key Themes
Today’s Doodle celebrates Ana Mercedes Hoyos, a distinguished Colombian artist. She was an award-winning painter and sculptor who won over seventeen national and international awards. Hoyos was a pioneer in modern art who focused on the complexities of Colombian culture. On this day in 1968, Hoyos was awarded first place in the Bogotá Museum of Modern Arts’ “Environmental Spaces” exhibition.
Born to a family of architects in Bogotá, Colombia on September 29, 1942, Hoyos was encouraged to study art history from an early age. She attended Colegia Marymount before studying visual arts at the University of Andes. She first explored more minimalistic and abstract styles, which led to her first series Ventanas (Windows). Many consider this collection the turning point of her career, as it won the Colombian National Salon of Artists’ Caracas Prize.
In the next few decades, Hoyos ventured into new realms. In the mid 1970s, she released Atmósferas (Atmospheres), a series exploring the parameters of light that won international recognition. She then created works featuring flora and fruit typically found in Cartagena, where she lived in the 1980s.
Hoyos’ artistic journey eventually led her to still-life paintings that examined the multicultural diversity of Colombia. These still lifes combined exaggerated light with explosive tropical colors to capture the Caribbean’s rich cultures and sceneries. Hoyos’ paintings portrayed Afro-Colombian heritage in a magical, mesmerizing way.
Nowadays, people can enjoy her work far and wide at renowned art institutions like the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, the United Nations University in Tokyo, the National Museum of African American History and Culture in D.C., and perhaps most importantly, the Bogotá Museum of Modern Art, where her journey started.
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