Artist stories | GUSTAVO VEJARANO

GALERIE VERMEULEN

Your work is traversed by successive cycles, where each series opens a new field of exploration. What role do you attribute to these shifts in your career, and which of these phases seems today the most pivotal?



GUSTAVO VEJARANO

One of my most meaningful achievements as an artist has been to consider art as a tool for exploration—both of the world around me and of my own inner landscape. Each time I encountered a subject or idea that resonated, I felt the need to invent the artistic language that could best express it.

Looking back, I find myself increasingly drawn to subtle, elusive realms, far removed from figurative representation. As for which phase has been the most defining... I believe each was essential in offering a different lens on the world, or more precisely, a complementary perspective on my inner processes and imagination.

That said, the cycle around sacred spaces—temples, power sites, spiritual art—was particularly enriching. It took me to extraordinary places across the globe and deepened my understanding of art as a universal and timeless language.

GALERIE VERMEULEN

What was the atmosphere like in your home as a child, and how did that family environment nurture your artistic sensibility?


GUSTAVO VEJARANO

I grew up in a family where culture held an important place. My father had founded a clinic, so artistic inspiration came mostly from the women in my family: my aunts, who were artists and collectors, had a deep influence on me. One was a dancer, the other a painter. My grandmother owned a house filled with French art and furniture, reflecting the taste of their past life in Europe. From a very young age, I spent hours leafing through my aunts’ art books—they undoubtedly sparked my interest in painting.

GALERIE VERMEULEN

Do you remember a specific moment when you realized you weren't going to follow the path your family had envisioned for you?



GUSTAVO VEJARANO

When I was 14 or 15, I thought I would become an architect, and we even looked into studying in London. But life had other plans. I left my parents' house at 17 to live in a small fishing village, Taganga, where we had formed an emerging community with a few friends. Several of my friends were artists, and I earned a living making handicrafts while developing my artistic practice.I quickly realized how much I needed to deepen my knowledge, and that's when I decided to return to Bogotá to study with David Manzur. Later, I joined the group of artists who formed the Taller la Huella collective. That was the moment I truly decided to make art my way of life, and I stayed with this collective until my trip to Paris in 1982. I had come to participate in the Paris Biennale—and I never left.



GALERIE VERMEULEN

What is the biggest artistic risk you have taken?



GUSTAVO VEJARANO

Every time I change my subject and visual language, it's like starting from scratch. Each new series is a leap into the void. It's never comfortable. These are necessary breaks. But they require putting everything back on the line.



GALERIE VERMEULEN

What do you want the viewer to feel or understand from your work?



GUSTAVO VEJARANO

An inner resonance. I would like the viewer to feel the energy, the vibration of an invisible but familiar place. I don't want to illustrate, I want to make it appear. I would like, when looking at my paintings, to feel a space, a breath, something alive. For painting to be an experience.

GALERIE VERMEULEN

Your works reflect a deep connection with nature, particularly seascapes. What draws you to these natural elements, and how do you translate them onto canvas?




GUSTAVO VEJARANO

Yes, nature—from human nature to universal nature, with its countless forms and transformations—has been the foundation and inspiration of my artistic practice throughout various series and techniques. The last two series in particular,OceansandSkies, coincided with the opening of my studio in Taganga. There, my connection with nature became more intimate, more immediate—attuned to the rhythms of life and the majesty of the surrounding landscape.

GALERIE VERMEULEN

Which exhibition or recognition has touched you the most personally, the one that remains the most significant for you?




GUSTAVO VEJARANO

The exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Bogota, which presented my career as an artist over 45 years and compiled works from different periods.

GALERIE VERMEULEN

You've lived in several iconic cities, including Paris, Bogota, Brussels, and Taganga. Which of these cities has had the most impact on you, both personally and artistically, and why?




GUSTAVO VEJARANO

Taganga is the village where I began to discover the world, art, love, and survival in nature—themes that remain relevant in my work today. Bogotá is my city, where I grew up and began to work, exhibit, and sell. Paris gave birth to me. It was the city that stripped me of my intellectual and artistic vanities, that confronted me and led me to search for my own method, my own voice, my own inner coherence. It was the city that made me seek excellence and that still surprises and educates me today. Brussels was my refuge from the world, the crucible where my soul melted, where silence and solitude, the cold, gray winters, pushed me to look within.

Gustavo Vejarano (born in Bogotá in 1952) is a French-Colombian artist whose work explores the relationships between matter, space, and consciousness. Through painting, sculpture, and drawing, he constructs visual cycles that reflect an inner quest as much as a careful look at the world. His works have been presented in numerous international institutions and are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art of Bogotá, the Museum of Modern Art of Paris, the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia, as well as several foundations and private collections in Europe and Latin America.