Juan Cárdenas Tradition, Critique, and Legacy in Colombian Art

The Colombian artist Juan Cárdenas Arroyo (Popayán, 1939 – Bogotá, 2024) was one of the most rigorous and complex creators of the second half of the 20th century in Colombia. With a career spanning more than six decades, he became a key figure in figurative and abstract painting, in drawing, and in political cartooning, leaving an indelible mark on national culture. His work, which engaged in a constant dialogue between tradition and innovation, became a living archive of the tensions between power, history, body, and memory.
 

A Farewell Through an Exhibition

His last exhibition, Juan Cárdenas: Paintings and Drawings, presented in 2024 at Galería La Cometa, was a tribute in life. The show brought together works produced over the past decade and offered insight into the maturity of his artistic language. In them, the artist explored how art history, scientific research, and the question of the image could coexist on a single surface. This project allowed audiences to rediscover Cárdenas as a creator who, far from repeating himself, continued to pose questions about the role of art in a convulsed world.

Training and Early Years

Born in Popayán, Cárdenas studied Fine Arts at the Rhode Island School of Design in the United States, graduating in 1962. That academic foundation, combined with an insatiable curiosity, enabled him to develop exceptional technical mastery in drawing and painting. Upon returning to Colombia in the 1960s, he worked as a political cartoonist in the national press, confronting the powers of the day with sharp and incisive lines. Between 1969 and 1972, he served as professor of painting and anatomy at the Universidad de los Andes, mentoring new generations of artists. In 1974, he received the National Painting Prize with a self-portrait that underscored the central role self-representation would play in his work.

Between Tradition and Visual Experimentation

The core of Cárdenas’s work can be understood as a tension between figuration and abstraction. For him, painting and drawing were means of reflecting on human dilemmas: power, war, love, solitude, corruption, beauty, and death. As he himself wrote, these ancient techniques continued to offer “the broadest possibilities to comment on the strange phenomenon of existence.”

His production includes recurring motifs: historical figures, scenes of national history, abstract architectures, studio interiors, and self-portraits. These themes were not mere formal exercises but explorations of identity, memory, and the fragility of being. The influence of the Spanish Golden Age masters, with their attention to chiaroscuro and theatricality, was decisive in his painting, as was the incorporation of classical mythology and Colombian political figures. In this way, his work linked past and present, questioning both artistic tradition and discourses of power.

His painted and drawn bodies seem to multiply or dissolve in space, generating an experience between the real and the dreamlike. This quality gave his work a philosophical depth, where the image was not only representation but also a question about the human condition.

From Graphic Humor to the Public Sphere

His career as a cartoonist was fundamental in his early years. His drawings, charged with irony, exposed the social and political tensions of the country. That critical gaze made him an uncomfortable figure for some sectors and a respected voice for those who valued art’s power as resistance.

In the 1990s, his public presence expanded with the design of Colombia’s national currency. He was the author of the 5,000-peso bill, featuring José Asunción Silva, and the 20,000-peso bill, dedicated to astronomer Julio Garavito. In doing so, he transferred his artistic sensitivity to everyday objects that circulated massively, integrating art into the daily lives of millions of Colombians.

Exhibitions and Recognitions

Throughout his career, Cárdenas participated in numerous exhibitions in national and international museums and galleries. His first solo exhibition took place in 1973 at the Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá, marking the beginning of an exhibition path that established him in the field of contemporary art. His later projects reflected constant evolution, combining technical rigor with experimental openness.

In recognition of his cultural contributions, he received multiple distinctions. Among them, the Order of Boyacá, Knight’s Degree, awarded in 2022 by the Colombian State, stood out. This honor summarized the importance of his legacy in building a critical artistic discourse.

An Open Legacy

The artistic legacy of Juan Cárdenas extends beyond his paintings and drawings to include his role as teacher, cartoonist, and creator of symbols of massive circulation. His work reminds us that truth in art is a form of resistance, a way of questioning the established order and imagining other possible worlds.

Today, his canvases and drawings are read as a living archive of Colombian culture, where Western artistic tradition, the obsessions of a contemporary creator, and the critical memory of a country converge. Juan Cárdenas leaves us with the certainty that art, in its most demanding forms, is also a way of thinking about life.