Bogotá, Colombia. 1959

Influenced by theorists Deleuze and Foucault, José Restrepo began his career through medicine. With a shift from medicine to art in 1981, he created works combining elements of both medicine and visual culture.

Terebra or Quiasma portrays the practice of terebration rooted with the social and historical systems.

Guided by the works of emblematic video artists Bill Viola and Gary Hill, Restrepo´s passion for video and visual language became renowned. As a pioneer of the medium, his work is considered to be exceptional in national contemporary art.

José Restrepo exhibits regularly around Europe, Latin America and the United States.

His work has been the subject of various solo exhibitions, including “Teofanías”, Museo de Antioquia, Medellín (2008); “TransHistorias: Mito y Memoria en la Obra de José Alejandro Restrepo”, Biblioteca Luís Ángel Arango, Bogotá (2001); “Musa Paradisíaca”, Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogotá (1997); “Anaconda”, Aphone” in Geneva, Switzerland (1993); “Terebra”, Museo de la Universidad Nacional de Bogotá -one of the first video installations he made in Colombia (1988).

His work has also been presented in many group exhibitions, “Aplicación Murillo. Materialismo, Caritas y Populismos’ in Seville (2018-2019); “Botánica Política”, Fundación la Caixa, Barcelona (2004); “Cantos/Cuentos Colombianos” Contemporary Colombian Art in Daros-Latinoamérica, Zurich (2004); “Tempo” at MoMa – Museum of Modern Art, New York (2002); “Arte y Violencia” Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá (1999); “The Sense of Place”, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (1998).

In 1995 the artist was awarded the VII Salón Regional de Artistas, Corferias, Zona 7, Santafé de Bogota, Colombia and witz the Prize of V La Bienal de Arte de Bogotá,  VIII Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador (2004) and the Prize Luís Caballero (2013).

He has participated in several international art events, such as the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007), Mercosul Biennial in Porto Alegre (2011), Biennial of Lyon (2011), Museo del Quai Branly (2013) and The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston (2015), Bienal de La Habana (1994, 2000), 23rd Bienal de São Paulo (1996), y la Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador, where his work received the biennial award.