September 2025.
Art exhibition at Duque Arango Contemporáneo, Medellín.
A lomo (2025) is the result of an artistic process that has taken more than five years to complete and whose conceptual development has led to series such as La Naturaleza de lo simple (2019), Análisis de Suelo (2021) and Linderos (2025). In all of them, Guerrero (1976) has been able to interpret Colombian rurality and the relationship between the individual and the land as a historical, political, social, but above all human framework, which is strongly marked by persistence, resistance and tension.
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In this context, the choice of the mule as the central figure is no accident: it has carried much of the country’s development on its back, becoming a metaphor for the peasant strength that has sustained rural life for centuries. In A lomo, the mule merges with that metaphor: animal and peasant share the same destiny, carrying the sack on their backs, working tirelessly, resisting precariousness and state abandonment, fighting against economic, climatic, social and even cultural adversities in a context that considers rural activity to be of minor importance. These are the conditions of a rural working collective that, in its frugality, has found a way of life that, far from seeking to dominate everything, seeks coexistence.
In this context, the choice of the mule as the central figure is no accident: it has carried much of the country’s development on its back, becoming a metaphor for the peasant strength that has sustained rural life for centuries. In A lomo, the mule merges with that metaphor: animal and peasant share the same destiny, carrying the sack on their backs, working tirelessly, resisting precariousness and state abandonment, fighting against economic, climatic, social and even cultural adversities in a context that considers rural activity to be of minor importance. These are the conditions of a rural working collective that, in its frugality, has found a way of life that, far from seeking to dominate everything, seeks coexistence.
In this measure, A lomo invites us to look beyond the noble beasts it presents, for they are not only the symbol of a nation’s progress; an example of this is the country’s first carriage, which in 1899 travelled by mule along the mountain ranges to reach Medellín; nor is it merely about the farmer who ploughs the land, obtains its fruits to load onto the mule and thus earn his livelihood. It is about the paths they take, the hours of silence, effort and perseverance, working from dawn until sunset. It is about the persistence of a peasantry that possesses enormous strength, the so-called peasant strength, the perrenque, the berraquera, that vein that, despite any difficulty, finds a way to continue, and which is present in our heritage, for it would be a lie to say that one’s family tree does not include peasant ancestors; and that is where the vigour that sustains everyday life comes from, from that patient perseverance that has transformed the geography, society and culture itself.
By placing the mule at the centre of his work, Guerrero articulates a narrative about the territory, rurality, the conflict that is tearing the country apart, and the contradictions of modernity in Colombia: progress at the cost of depredation, mobility amid precariousness, but above all hope and perseverance in a context of dispossession. But beyond focusing on the negative, his works are a tribute to the strength of the peasantry, the dignity of rural communities, and the determination that, despite adversity, sustains the present and projects the future. Through these pieces, art becomes a space for memory and resistance, but also for visibility and recognition for those who, on the back of a mule or a steel horse, have carried an essential part of Colombia’s history on their shoulders.
Laura Páez
Curator and Art Historian
The nature of simplicity
Since its inception in 2019, La Naturaleza de lo Simple has only grown richer. On this occasion, Guerrero revisits the ethereal figures we have seen throughout his series, but nourished by elements that are increasingly taking centre stage. The evanescent peasants of the early pieces have become larger and more solid, complemented by new elements that conceptually enrich the compositions. Mules, bicycles, traces of ploughs and vegetation, rows of animals, and pairs of men and women have emerged from the awnings. Although distanced, they find themselves in a shared solitude.
These variations have not only paved the way for series such as Soil Analysis, Boundaries, and On Horseback, but have also expanded Guerrero’s references and compositions throughout his work. Bicycles are a good example of this. These artefacts, which arrived in the country by ship and were a novelty among Colombia’s most affluent families between 1930 and 1940, quickly permeated all social spheres and contributed particularly to rural life, becoming a fundamental tool for local economies. However, their impact does not end there. This means of transport has shaped part of our national identity. It is no secret that ‘Los Escarabajos’ (The Beetles) filled the country with pride and excitement on their steel horses; Fernando Botero himself captured the importance of this sport in La Apoteosis de Ramón Hoyos (The Apotheosis of Ramón Hoyos, 1959), An Antioquian who, like many of cycling’s greats, began his career in the provinces as a bicycle delivery boy. Such is the history of cycling in Colombia: many of the names that became famous in this discipline began their days on unpaved roads connecting villages and towns, carrying all kinds of local produce in their baskets, far from any apparent glory but with a resilience worthy of great feats. Today, the bicycle, which became established during the 20th century as a means of transport and later as a work tool for hundreds and hundreds of Colombians, is still in use. Guerrero captures this in his scenes, in which the bicycle becomes the backbone of the silent peasant resistance.
Mules are another recurring figure in this series. Their role in the countryside is, for Guerrero, a subject of particular interest, as their role goes far beyond rural tasks; they have carried much more than material goods in their packs. Andrés Castiblanco Roldán was right to say that modernity came to Colombia ‘on the back of a mule’, as it was this noble animal that achieved the epic feat in 1899 of transporting the first car to set foot on Colombian soil from the port of Cartagena to the heart of Medellín. That vehicle, owned by the Amador Uribe family from Antioquia, which they paradoxically christened the ‘Golden Donkey’, ended up falling into disuse, buried on the orders of the family matriarch so that the children would not hurt themselves on its tin parts. Meanwhile, on the back of
The mule continues to travel along the most unlikely paths of food sovereignty and national development. The mule continues its patient journey through Colombian history, supporting not only arduous agricultural tasks in every village and town, but also carrying the dreams of hundreds of families who, on the back of a mule, are searching for their own modernity.
Laura Páez
Curator and Art Historian
