Abel Rodríguez was born Mogaje Guihu in the Putumayo Department of Colombia and trained as a botanical expert amongst the Nonuya, one of several Amazonian ethnic groups. The works exhibited in the Biennale Arte are characteristic of Rodríguez’s recent production. Sin título (2023) is from a series that focuses on the taxonomical exploration of different varieties of Amazonian trees, capturing their distinct characteristics such as colour, leaf shape, trunk texture, and overall plant architecture. These meticulous depictions correspond to the specimen’s real-life characteristics and serve not only as compelling artistic representations, but also as scientifically accurate portrayals of Amazonian biodiversity. Centro el terreno que nunca se inunda (2022), a cross section of the Amazonian rainforest presented in a flat perspective, is a composition in which several species of flora coexist with animals and elements of the landscape. It speaks of the way that trees and plants, the artist’s specialty, intertwine both biologically as well as cosmologically in the understanding of nature and life amongst the Nonuya and other Indigenous groups. In their worldview, one cannot exist without the other.
This is the first time the work of Abel Rodríguez is presented at Biennale Arte.
—Emiliano Valdés
