BIOGRAPHY: Julio Parra
To start 2026, ARTitude Galeria is pleased to present the solo exhibition, BIOGRAPHY, by Colombian artist Julio Parra. This solo offers a notable recognition to an artist who has been represented by the gallery since its founding in 2017. Based in Medellín, Parra’s work is often associated with punk art. The concept of his work is derived from a naïve, almost childlike technique, drawing inspiration from the spontaneity and freedom within the likeness of children’s drawings. Parra approaches his work through an intuitive, instinct-driven process, allowing ideas to evolve organically in an anarchistic aesthetic. His continuous research and experimentation deflect away from repetition, making his work increasingly intriguing and profound. Each gesture and line is the result of the artist’s expression to transmit emotion within the work to the viewer.
Entering the exhibition, viewers are immersed in a curated contrast of two dynamically different series. Displayed side by side, this solo show presents the artist’s multidisciplinary attribute of working simultaneously on two bodies of work, painting and mixed media. This dual presentation underscores a longstanding reality in art history: artists often work across multiple mediums and stylistic languages throughout their lives. Figures such as Pablo Picasso, a pioneer of collage, moved fluidly between realism and abstraction, while Robert Rauschenberg, whose early monochromatic canvases rejected Abstract Expressionism, later became synonymous with his “Combine” paintings, merging painting, collage, and found objects. Just as Rauschenberg, Parra shared the view that painting should reflect the current reality of the world, embracing and incorporating its inherent disorder.
The vital energy inherent in his canvas drawings, which he qualifies as “mental maps,” highlights the intention of expressing the subtlety of thought in his collages. Both series within the exhibition reflect the complexity of contemporary thought, built more from emotional impulses than from defined anatomy. Recognisable text such as letters, numbers, and proper names are appropriated and distorted, questioning the narratives and imaginaries of power they represent. Parra plays with the paradox of perception. A crossed-out word often captures the viewer’s attention more powerfully than the same word left untouched and repeated multiple times alongside it.
Iconographies used throughout Parra’s work serve as vessels of meaning. Skulls should not be understood as literal or morbid figures, but as passages of memory. Surrounded by vibrant colours, they become almost joyful gestures, from which memories seem to burst forth, spilling into the composition as signs of life rather than death.
Animal figures such as the tiger embodies strength, power, and beauty, while the horse represents nobility, spirit, and its historical role in conquering feats of empires.
Educated at the National University of Colombia and the Fundación Universitaria de Bellas Artes in Medellín, Parra has developed a solid foundation in painting and visual arts. His career includes numerous solo exhibitions in Colombia and abroad, such as Grafías Urbanas (Marte Gallery, 2024), Imagen Construida (Biblioteca EPM, 2023), Abecedarios (Alonso Garcés Gallery, Bogotá, 2016), and Blanco-Negro (Cámara de Comercio de Medellín, 2011). He has also participated in major international art fairs, including the Salon International d’Art Contemporain in Toulouse (2018), the Feria del Millón in Bogotá, and exhibitions at the Sejong Art Museum and Art Center in Korea (2015).
