Draft:Santiago Parra

Early Life and Education
Santiago Parra was born in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1986. He studied Literature at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia before pursuing art education at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá. He later attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where he also studied Fine Arts, Motion Pictures, and Television.

Artistic Style and Themes
Parra is renowned for his large, abstract, and highly expressive black and white paintings. His works feature bold, expressive black linework that captures the suspended flatness of calligraphy-like imagery, harmonizing spontaneity and contemplation, shaped by movement, strength, gravity, and skill. His paintings have a strong presence and are noted for their sculptural qualities, as he applies paint in thick, industrial volumes using unconventional tools like mops made from horsehair rather than traditional brushes. This approach gives his works a dynamic and powerful aesthetic that challenges the boundaries of abstract art. Parra's art explores gestural abstraction, contemporary Latin American art, identity politics, and the expressive possibilities of abstract forms.

Parra's art explores gestural abstraction, contemporary Latin American art, identity politics, and the expressive possibilities of abstract forms.

Method of Creation
As an artist, Parra aims to "render intuition and feeling and emotion at the core of my practice to show how they are at the basis of creation." Informed only by subconscious feelings and emotions, Parra creates art from instinct and impulse, moving the brushstrokes to bring life to the canvases. His work connects with viewers by transforming inert materials like black paint, white canvases, and brushes into dynamic compositions that narrate the beginning of life and human experience.

Selected Solo and Group Exhibitions
- 2024: "Spark of Fire," JD Malat Gallery, London, UK

- 2022: "Unconscious," JD Malat Gallery, New York, NY, USA

- 2019: "Uprising," JD Malat Gallery, Miami Beach, USA

- 2018: MAC GALA, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de la Ciudad de Panama

- 2017: "Santiago Parra," Galería ArteConsult, Ciudad de Panama, Panama

- 2015: "En el mismo Idioma," Galería Isabel Aninat, Santiago de Chile, Chile

- 2014: "Línea Blanda," curated by Oscar Roldán Alzate, Galería Sextante, Bogotá, Colombia

- 2013: "6º Salón de Arte Bidimensional," Fundación Gilberto Alzate Avendaño FUGA, Bogotá, Colombia

- 2011: "Void and Feelings," Arevalo Gallery, Miami, FL, USA

Selected Collections
- Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami, USA

- Tanya C. Brillembourg Collection, USA

- Jorge Pérez Collection, USA

- Solita Mishaan Collection, Spain

- Jean et Colette Cherqui Collection, France