analuciacano@gmail.com
Ana Lucia Cano (b. 1980, Quindío, Colombia), before embarking on a journey of self-discovery as a visual artist, studied and practiced architecture in the United States, Austria, Canada and Colombia. She earned a Masters in Architectural Design from Columbia University and opened her own boutique practice in New York City.
Cano’s semi-abstract work is influenced by a childhood lived between a city at war (Medellin) and the magic vitality of her grandmother’s farm; between the discipline of a strict school, and the warm carefree days of coffee plantations. Her compositions use intricate work to reconcile the tension between pairs of opposites (agony and sublimation, vulnerability and power, black and white).
Her paintings are among private collections in England, India, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, and the United States:
· In 2017 - Awarded first prize in the Annual Viridian Artists Juried Exhibition.
· In 2018 - Completed a site-specific commissioned mural (30m2) for the Gurgaon's Grand Hyatt.
· In 2021 - Received an award at the London Art Biennale.
· In 2022 - Selected to exhibit at Gagliardi gallery in London.
· In 2023 - Solo show at Noho House Gallery (Barcelona).
Architecture’s influence on Cano’s art can be clearly felt through her composition strategies and line work; one is directed through a visual riddle, lost and found in detail. She makes bold use of formal and thematic juxtapositions that arouse the viewer’s power of imagination.
Writing and drawing are the genesis of Cano’s paintings; she regards herself, foremost, as a storyteller. Her graphic narrations with dizzyingly sophisticated patterns, sensual figures and textures verge on the humorous and erotic.
Cano’s haunting characters are depicted in constant movement against busy textures and backgrounds. Bodies, animals, shapes and portraits, either in ink or acrylic paint, are mapped carefully with bittersweet expressions that forge new relationships with her unconscious and her own history.