World-renowned Colombian artist in Istanbul show

Standing out with his installation work titled "House Taken," which was exhibited in London's Saatchi Gallery in 2014 and 2015 three times, Rafael Gomezbarros came to Istanbul to open his first personal exhibition titled "We Forget to Think We Are Born." The exhibition, which will take place in parallel to the 16th Istanbul Biennale at Sevil Dolmacı Art Consultancy, will be held until Oct. 25.

Graduating from Jorge Tadeo Lozano University's Faculty of Fine Arts in 2000, Rafael Gomezbarros focuses on the individual's relation to society, identity and anonymity, and migration and memory deriving from the political conflicts in his homeland. His works have been exhibited in leading galleries, museums and biennales in various countries including Belgium, Cuba, Austria, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S.

He has held 20 solo exhibitions and his works were exhibited at the Biennial de la Habana in Cuba in 2014 and at the Gangwon Biennial in South Korea in 2018. His worldwide famous "House Taken" installation was exhibited in many museums and art institutions around the world, including the Capitolio de Colombia building in Bogota, Colombia in 2010 and the Lowry Center building in 2015 in the U.K. Gomezbarros will be presenting works from his "We Are Numbers," " House Taken," "We Are Human," and "I Eat You Eat, He Eats" series at his first solo exhibition in Turkey; "We Forget to Think We Are Born." Inspired by the civil war in Colombia, the Istanbul exhibition seeks answers to questions such as: "Should we forget what is lost?" "Can we trust each other?" "Why do we migrate?" and finally, "Why am I so hungry?," inviting viewers to think about the global problems of our time.