Andrés Monzón-Aguirre
Andrés Monzón-Aguirre (b.1987, Medellin, Colombia) is an artist working between New York City and Medellin who translates displacement and ancestral memory into ceramics, sculpture and painting. Referencing specific indigenous iconographies of Colombia, Monzón-Aguirre abstracts personal and collective imagery as an act of remembrance and even an opportunity for healing. Although their objects reference Quimbaya and Tumaco-La Tolita goldsmithing and ceramics, the space between these histories and the artist’s scattered lineage suggests a rupture of relations, an errantry set forth by Glissant, in which wandering yields fruitful possibilities of self-determining one’s own relationship to complex systems and histories.
Andrés Monzón-Aguirre received their BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design (2009) and an MFA from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University (2019). Recent solo exhibitions include Bodegón at Jeffrey Stark Gallery, New York City (2021) and Generaciones at Museo Universitario Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín (2022). They have exhibited their work at Manifesta 13, Marseille, France; Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellin, Medellin, Colombia; Centrum Voor Fotografie, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Alfred Ceramic Art Museum, Alfred, NY; Capacete, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; dOCUMENTA(13), Kassel, Germany; Fisher Press, Santa Fe, NM; Villegas Editores, Bogotá, Colombia; Museo de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia; and Museo de Arte Moderno, Bucaramanga, Colombia. They have been resident artist at the Museo del Norte de Santander, Villa del Rosario, Colombia, and Fundación Casa Tres Patios Medellin, Colombia. Amongst their recognitions, Monzón represents Colombia at the International Academy of Ceramics; they are recipient of City Artist Corps Grant, New York, NY; Apoyos Concertados Para el Arte y La Cultura, Medellin; and Prince Claus Fund Travel Award. Monzón is Founder Director of Campos de Gutiérrez, an organization of international scope that has served diverse audiences since 2011, facilitating educational and artistic projects, cultural exchange, and exhibitions in Medellin.