Juan Cárdenas Arroyo's work transcends artistic conventions to explore the complexity of the human figure and its relationship with space and time. His work is characterized by technical richness, a product of his skill in using color and his virtuosity as a draftsman. In 1965, after training at the Rhode Island School of Design in the United States, he returned to Colombia, where he began a multifaceted career that took him from the world of journalism—as a cartoonist in media such as El Tiempo and La República—to the academic field, where he taught painting, drawing, and anatomy at the Universidad de los Andes.

In 1973, he held his first individual exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art of Bogotá (MAMBO), marking the beginning of a prolific artistic career. In 1974, he obtained the National Painting Prize at the XXV National Salon with a self-portrait, which consolidated his position as a leading figure in the Colombian art scene.

Throughout his life, Cárdenas's work has stood out for his ability to merge diverse styles, from cubism to impressionism and from abstract to figurative art, creating unique works that defy conventional categorizations. His work, centered on the human figure, reflects deep self-reflection, using his own image as a canvas to explore themes of identity and distancing.

Cárdenas has also dabbled in painting urban and rural landscapes, demonstrating an exceptional ability to capture the essence and character of the environments he inhabits. His pieces are marked by meticulous attention to detail and a profound sensitivity to the complexities of the human experience.

As historian Germán Rubiano Caballero highlights, “In his best drawings and paintings, Cárdenas assumes the attitude of the faithful disciple who follows the example of the masters, from Michelangelo to Degas, and who only wants to make 'studies' of their works. However, the artist not only studies but creates a masterful work in which various figures from the history of art are intertwined, in the most extraordinary synchronization of time. (...) A game of appearances, illusions, and reflections, his work alludes to the ephemeral, to the fleeting and contingent.”