The exhibition Coqui Calderón+7 brings together seven artists who show the influence that the art of Constancia Calderón de Augrain had on them. Performs at the Bristol Hotel, Panama City
Esther M. Arjona
Coqui Calderón, artist, feminist, manager and activist marked a before and after in Panamanian art of the twentieth century. Her passing, only a few months ago, left a void in the art community in Panama. "She made women and the earth the center of his work. He used his brush against the dictatorship and never separated his ethics from his aesthetics," says the catalog of this exhibition that is presented thanks to the collaboration of the Menú Creativo platform and the Bristol Hotel.
The exhibition is made up of 24 works in total: seven by Calderón and the rest by seven artists of different generations and projection who recognize the importance that the painter had in the construction of contemporary art in Panama, narrated through her own works. Diego Fábrega, Sari Holland, Ricauter Marín, Ernesto Asch, Ytzel Vega, Luis Lasso de la Vega and Armando Guillén participate in this tribute. Coqui's works are the guiding axis on which the works of these artists are projected.
"Coqui is no longer physically there, but her influence remains—visible in canvas and pigment, and in the way each of them learned to look at Panamanian art, through their eyes," the curatorial text exalts.
Coqui Calderón's art remained in constant evolution throughout his career. He moved from expressionism and optical art to a magical symbolism rooted in the female figure and nature, identified by their fecundity, fragility, temperance and emotionality.
As a cultural manager, she dedicated many years to strengthening local art by promoting the creation of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Panama, an evolution of the Panamanian Institute of Art (Panarte), of which she was president of its board.
Coqui Calderón+7 will be exhibited in the Gran Colonial III Room of the Bristol Hotel on March 19 and 20, from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm.
Photos: Creative Menu