Johanna Calle: Trama
Ruiz-Healy Art is pleased to present a solo exhibition highlighting work by internationally renowned artist Johanna Calle. Trama opens to the public on Thursday, May 11, 2017, with a reception from 5:30 - 7:30 pm with the artist in attendance. An artist talk contextualizing the exhibition will be held on Saturday, May 13th at 2:00 pm. An artist talk between Johanna Calle, Julio César Pérez Navarrete, and Ruiz-Healy Art Director Patricia Ruiz-Healy will be held on Saturday, May 13th at 2:00 PM at Ruiz-Healy Art.
Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Calle gracefully investigates lines with a preference for a black and white palette. Her exploration of drawing and pushing the medium into a wide variety of techniques are at the heart of her formal practice. Her method of line-making is that of a physical approach-one that includes wire, stitching, text, along with the more traditional use of ink and pencil. The artist is contently expanding and reconfiguring the very idea of a line and mark-making.
Calle bestows formalism with a social conscience. Rather than sensationalizing the grave issues and violent troubles of the world, she incorporates the heaviest of subject matters, such as environmental decay and the horrific conditions of the slums, and presents the topics in a philosophical and contemplative manner. She sheds light on humanitarian tragedies while submerging them within a subdued aesthetic.
Johanna Calle earned her BA in Art History from Los Andes University in Bogotá, Colombia and received her MFA from the Chelsea College of Art at the London Institute. Calle's work can be found in prestigious collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, TX; and the National Museum of Colombia, Bogotá. This year, Calle had a solo-exhibition at Galerie Krinzinger in Vienna, Austria and Galeria Marilia Razuk in Sãn Paulo, Brazil.
Calle has been selected for numerous international exhibitions and biennales. During 2016, she exhibited in the 20th Sydney Biennale, Australia. In 2015, she participated in the IV Trienal Poli/Gráfica, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and in 2014, she was included in SITELines: Unsettled Landscapes, New Mexico, USA. Other group shows include Lines at Hauser & Wirth in Zurich, Switzerlandin 2014. Calle's artwork will also be included in the forthcoming exhibitions, Home - So Different, So Appealing, which will open at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2017 and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in 2018.
