Camilo Restrepo creates works that represent the drug violence that for decades has besieged his native Colombia. Using techniques more often associated with sculpture, he creates large-scale drawings that highlight the materiality of paper by scratching, scraping and cutting into it. He erases with a precision knife leaving scars and wounds that remain visible. His works are dense with cartoon imagery with every situation illustrating some aspect of Colombia’s narco world and the consequences to his mental and emotional faculties. While Restrepo certainly is an art world insider (he earned two degrees in Colombia as well as an MFA at CalArts), because of the obsessive nature of his work, he can easily be mistaken for an outsider artist.

In 2019 Steve Turner released the first major monograph of the Restrepo’s work, available for purchase here.

Born 1973, Medellín, Colombia
Lives and works in Medellín

Education
2013
MFA, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia

2008
MA in Aesthetics, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín

Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions
2024
Cocaine Hippos Sweat Blood, Galería La Cometa, Madrid

2023
Perpetual. Galería La Cometa, Miami
Alias: los otros nombres. Sala de Arte Bancolombia, Bogotá

2021
The Other Names, Steve Turner, Los Angeles

2020
Pescando Con Dinamita, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Alias II, Casa Hay Festival, Cartagena

2019
Alias, Sala de Arte Suramericana, Medellín
El Bloc del Narco, Steve Turner, Los Angeles

2017
Mera Calentura, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Artissima (with Steve Turner), Torino, Italy

2016
ARTBO (with Steve Turner), Bogotá
Lux Art Institute, Encinitas
Art Brussels (with Steve Turner)

2015
Tight Rope, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
ARCO Madrid (with Steve Turner)

2014
El Sueño de la Razón Produce Monstruos, Steve Turner, Los Angeles

2013
This is a Wound, Not Just The Drawing of a Hole, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Untitled, Miami Beach (with Steve Turner)

2011
Figuritas en el Suelo, Premio Luis Caballero, Galería Santa Fe, Bogotá

2010
Trabajo Reciente, Galería de La Oficina, Medellín
Figuritas en el Suelo, Casa Tres Patios, Medellín

2009
Esto es una Pipa, LA Galería, Bogotá

Group Exhibitions
2024
ArtBo, Bogotá (with Galería La Cometa)
Expo Chicago (with Galería La Cometa)
Zona Maco, Mexico City (Galería La Cometa)

2023
Contra-Política, Galería La Cometa, Bogotá
Narcolombia, Sala de Exposiciones Edificio Julio Mario Santo Domingo, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá
ArtBo, Bogotá (with Galería La Cometa)

2022
Untitled, Miami Beach (with Steve Turner)
Expo Chicago (with Steve Turner)

2021
El Ataque del Presente Contra el Resto de los Tiempos. Museo La Tertulia, Cali, Colombia
Untitled, Miami Beach (with Steve Turner)
Memories From Nápoles, El Plan Projecten, Oranjestad, Aruba

2020
Apocalipsis WOW. Por una muerte de fantasía, (bis) | oficina de proyectos, Cali, Colombia
Earth Day 2020, Steve Turner, Los Angeles

2019
El Revés de la Trama, 45 Salón Nacional de Artistas, Centro Colombo Americano, Bogotá
Una línea de polvo, Museo de Arte Pereira
En Fuga: Re-Vistas, Videos y Narco Archivos, Fundación Gilberto Alzate Avendaño, Bogotá

2018
Untitled, Miami Beach (with Steve Turner)
Comfortably Numb: A Critical Investigation into the Cultural Impact of Drugs and Narcotics, Another Space, New York
Inside Out, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Through-Line: Drawing and Weaving by 19 Artists, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
BioPix, Steve Turner, Los Angeles

2017
Untitled, Miami Beach, (with Steve Turner)
Medellín, une histoire colombienne, Musée des Abattoirs, Toulouse

2016
Code Art Fair (with Steve Turner), Copenhagen
Seattle Art Fair (with Steve Turner)
La Savia Espesa, Casa del Lago, Mexico City

2015
Historias Locales / Prácticas Globales, MDE15, Museo de Antioquia, Medellín
A Sense of Place, Selections from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection, Mana Wynwood Convention Center, Miami
EXPO Chicago (with Steve Turner)
Space Program, Steve Turner, Los Angeles

2014
Una línea de polvo, FLACSO, Quito, Ecuador
ARTBO (with Steve Turner), Bogotá
Pinta London (with Steve Turner)
Zona Maco (with Steve Turner), Mexico City

2013
Untitled, Miami Beach (with Steve Turner)
Subrepticio, Historias Encubiertas, Galería Banasta, Medellín
Gloria/Dinero, Galería de la Oficina, Medellín
Uma Linha de Pó, Barracao Maravilha Arte Contemporanea, Rio de Janeiro
La Gente en la Colección del Museo, Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, Medellín

2012
Poetas en Tiempos de Escasez. El parqueadero – Banco de la República, Bogotá

2011
Más Allá de la Crisis, 6a Ventosul, Bienal de Curitiva, Museo Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba, Brazil
Salón BBVA – Nuevos Nombres Banco de la República, Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango, Bogotá

2010
42 Salón Nacional de Artistas, Museo Antropológico Universidad del Atlántico, Barranquilla
Premio Bienal de Artes Plásticas y Visuales Bogotá 2010, Fundación Gilberto Alzate Avendaño, Bogotá
No Soul for Sale – Casa Tres Patios, Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London

2009
13 Salón Regional de Artistas, Estación de Ferrocarril, Armenia
Casa de Citas, Museo de Antioquia, Medellín

2008
41 Salón Nacional de Artistas, Museo de Arte Religioso, Cali

Awards and Grants
2013
Fulbright Grant, United States

2012
XXII Salón Colombiano de Fotografía, Sala de Arte Suramericana de Seguros, Medellín

Bibliography
2020
“‘Alias’, historia de muerte y balas perdidas,” Arteria, February

2019
Castañeda, Ronal. “Artes de las calles y las noticias en exposición,” EL COLOMBIANO, October 23
Domínguez, Laura Camila Arévalo. “Sobre la costumbre de encontrarse muertos en Medellín,” EL ESPECTADOR, October 20
Fajardo, Santiago Rueda. “Plata y Plomo. Una Historia de Arte y Drogas (i)licitas en Colombia,” Editorial Crítica

2018
Fajardo, Santiago Rueda. “Post Scriptum: Una Línea de Polvo. Arte y Drogas en América Latina,”
{con}Tensión Editorial, May 11

2017
Eytan, Declan. “The Next Big Thing in Miami’s Contemporary Art Scene? Look No Further Than Turin,” Forbes, December 6
Lesser, Casey. “Why You’re Seeing So Many More Works on Paper at Art Fairs,” Artsy, November 1
Hanson, Sarah P. “New commissions by nine artists for DiCaprio Foundation sale,” The Art Newspaper, July 20

2016
Popescu, Roxana. “Camilo Restrepo: dismantling absurdity through his art,” The San Diego Union- Tribune, September 25
Belli, Mathias. “Volden på CODE Art Fair,” magasinet kunst, August 11
Amirsadeghi, Hossein. Petitgas, Catherine. Contemporary Art Colombia. TransGlobe Publishing, p. 242-245

2015
Maloney, Darby. “The L.A. Art Scene: Mega-galleries and Narco Art,” The Frame, KPCC, September 25
Miranda, Carolina A. “Art born of the drug wars: Camilo Restrepo on ‘narco bananas’ and pen-on-paper violence,” Los Angeles Times, September 23

2014
Frank, Priscilla. “Surreal Paintings Reveal The Violent Absurdities Of The Colombia Drug Trade,” HuffPost, May 28
Black, Ezrha Jean. “Pacific Standard Surreal – A wish list,” Artillery, May 8

2013
Cembalest, Robin. “Artwork on Violence in Colombia Too Dangerous for Art Fair in Miami,” ARTnews, December 4
Samuels, A.J. “When Art Gets Violent,” Artfetch, September

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