gabriel sierra
1975, San Juan Nepomuceno, Colombia
Through simple yet meaningful interventions with every day objects, Gabriel Sierra presents viewers with an anthropological study of the language of architecture. His work evidences a keen interest in the social codes that govern our interaction with built environments, with a particular focus on how these norms can be changed or subverted through the manipulation of architectural dynamics. By transforming these behavioral codes, his paintings, sculptures, and installations address issues related to the perception of daily life. He is also attentive to the subconscious influence that context and logic have upon our relation to space. For Sierra, there is a fine line between function, utility, and subjective thought, just as there is between design, architecture, and art. By manipulating the form and function of certain objects, he alters habitual expectations and associations. It is in this destabilizing potential that Sierra’s work achieves its most potent effects, both within the space and the mind of the viewer.
Gabriel Sierra received a degree in Industrial Design from the Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano in 1999. He has been an artist in residence at the KADIST in San Francisco (2012), Gasworks in London (2009), and CAC Brétigny in France (2006).
Gabriel Sierra lives and works in Bogota, Colombia.
untitled, 2006
apple and united states one dolar bill
variable dimensions
untitled (intermission), 2012
playwood, plaster, and paint
variable dimensions
untitled (estructura para transición #6), 2008
wood, screws
variable dimensions
untitled (síntesis para caverna), 2008
cardboard boxes, light bulb, enamel
13.78 x 10.43 x 3.94 in.; 10.43 x 6.5 x 3.94 in.
badly explained rainbow, 2008
vinyl on wall
variable dimensions
untitled (estructura para transición #9. pense-bête), 2011
wood, screws
variable dimensions
untitled (estructura para transición #9. pense-bête), 2011
wood, screws
variable dimensions
untitled, (sugestión de conversación entre una ventana desnuda y paisaje indiscreto), 2010
metallic structure, wood and glass
variable dimensions
untitled, (sugestión de conversación entre una ventana desnuda y paisaje indiscreto), 2010
metallic structure, wood and glass
variable dimensions
untitled (abstract elephant), 2010
wooden structure
157.48 x 118.11 x 3543.31 in.
untitled (marginalia), 2011
wood, plaster, paint
variable dimensions
untitled (el día como hueco en la mitad de la noche), 2011
wood floor
variable dimensions
untitled (el día como hueco en la mitad de la noche), 2011
wood floor
variable dimensions
untitled (reducción de una vivienda al tamaño de una puerta), 2008
wood, cardboard, pedestal
variable dimensions
hang it all, madrastra naturaleza series, 2003
set of 4 metal and fresh fruits
14.96 x 20.08 x 7.09 in.
untitled (cola de zorro), 2009
wood, screws and dry wall
variable dimensions
estructura para transición #2, 2008
wood and screws
variable dimensions
estructura para transición #2, 2008
wood and screws
variable dimensions
untitled (mattress, drying rack, cheap white folding chair and two expensive black folding chairs), 2013
mattress, drying rack and folding chairs in drywall
variable dimensions
untitled, estructuras para transición #8, (argumentos sobre miedo al futuro o urbanismo para nubes), 2008-2010
wood, cables and screws
variable dimensions
untitled (estructura para transición #9. pense-bête), 2011
wood, screws
variable dimensions
untitled (estructura para transición #9. pense-bête), 2011
wood, screws
variable dimensions
untitled (4 espantapájaros), 2, 2013
set of 4, glued hay, painted gesso
16.02 x 11.02 x 2.76 in. each
untitled (¿por qué 2013 es tan parecido a 2012? #3), 2013
set of 2. found objetc and wood, paint, mechanism
3.35 x 16.42 x 13.98 in. at 34.06 in. from the floor; 7.48 x 23.62 x 16.14 in. at 34.06 in. from the floor
untitled (¿por qué 2013 es tan parecido a 2012?), 2013
set of 2 pieces. wood, paint, mechanism, glued hay, painted gesso and apples
11.22 x 16.93 x 2.95 in. at 50.06 in. from the floor; 11.81 x 15.75 x 15.75 in. at 44.49 in. from the floor
quasi-quadrado, 2010-2011
gray acrylic painting on wood, magnets and fabric hinges
variable dimensions
untitled (retruécano), 2013
set of 7. plumb pipes, copper pipes, paint, nylon
variable dimensions
untitled (retruécano), 2013
set of 7, plumb pipes, copper pipes, paint, nylon
variable dimensions
untitled, estructura para transición #11 (buenos días le corbusier, buenas noches neufert), 2013
oak wood, drywall, gesso
variable dimensions
untitled (funda) 4, 2014
set of 3 pieces, wood, fabric, magnets, enamel paint and glued hay
variable dimensions
untitled (el sol después de national geographic), 2012
set of 9 wooden boxes, yellow acrylic painting and fabric hinges
53.94 x 177.17 x 94.49 in.
untitled, 2015
glued hay and resin
35.43 x 31.5 x 3.15 in.
His most important solo exhibitions include: Horas de museo, kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2019); Subito dopo l’oggetto più distante, Galleria Franco Noero, Turin, Italy (2019); Matriz do Tiempo Real, Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil (2018); The First Impressions of the Year 2018 (During the early days of the year 2017), Association of Visual Artists Vienna Secession, Austria (2017); NOTICE: the title of the exhibition will change every hour. 10:00am: Monday Impressions. 11:00am: How the Outside Leaks into the Room. 12:00pm: Smells Like 100 Years Old. 1:00pm: The Room Is in My Eye. The Space under My Body. 2:00pm: In the Meantime, (This Place Will Be Empty after 5:00 pm). 3:00pm: An Actual Location for This Moment. 4:00pm: Few Will Leave Their Place to Come Here for Some Minutes. 5:00pm: Did You Know Who Built Your House? The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, United States (2015); Numbers in a Room, SculptureCenter, New York (2015); Gabriel Sierra. Before Present, Kunsthalle Zürich, Switzerland (2015); Thus Far, Peep-Hole c/o Fonderia Battaglia, Milan (2013); ( ), KADIST, San Francisco, United States (2012); Gabriel Sierra, Centro Cultural do Banco do Brasil (CCBB), São Paulo, Brazil (2012); Compuesto Verde, CAC Brétigny, France (2006); Día de Frutas y Nubes Negras (Stepmothernature_series), El Bodegón (arte contemporáneo - vida social), Bogota, Colombia (2006); Amorfo-sin título, Espacio La Rebeca, Bogota, Colombia (2004); NO DIGA SI DIGA OUI, Objetos y Estructuras Parafuncionales, Alianza Francesa, Bogota, Colombia (2004).
His work has also been included in group exhibitions such as: Fuga, CCS Bard, Hessel Museum of Art/Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, United States (2023); La buena vida. Obras de la colección del Banco de la República, Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (MAMM), Colombia (2023); TODOS JUNTOS (All Together), kurimanzutto, New York (2022); Moment.Monument, Kunst Museum Winterthur, Switzerland (2021); Stories of Abstraction: Contemporary Latin American Art in the Global Context, Phoenix Art Museum, AZ (2020); Amulet or He calls it chaos, The David Ireland House, San Francisco (2019); Latinoamérica: volver al futuro, MALBA Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Argentina (2018); Spaces Without Drama or Surface is an Illusion, But So Is Depth, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Chicago, United States (2017); We’ve Got Mail III. MOSTYN, Wales, United Kingdom (2016); El Orden Natural de las Cosas. Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2016); Under the Same Sun: Art from Latin America Today, South London Gallery (2016); Do Objeto para o Mundo, Centro Cultural do Banco do Brasil (CCBB), Bello Horizonte, Brazil (2015); Panorama, (commissioned by High Line Art), New York (2015); CRU–Comida, Transformação e Arte, Centro Cultural do Banco do Brasil (CCBB), Brasilia, Brazil (2015); Under the Same Sun, Guggenheim Museum, New York and Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2014); El Ojo en el Tiempo, Obras de la colección Adrastus, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City (2013); Ways of Working: the incidental object, Fondazione Merz, Turin, Italy (2013); Block, Pillar, Slab, Beam, Aspen Art Museum, United States (2012); among others.
He has participated in various biennials, including: 2013 Carnegie International, Pittsburgh, United States; 9th Shanghai Biennale, China (2012); 2012 New Museum Triennial: The Ungovernables, New York; 12 İstanbul Bienali, Turkey (2011); 11e Biennale de Lyon, France (2011); 28a Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil (2008); 7 a Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2007).
