Duque Arango Galería in Medellín, founded in 1980, has established itself as a benchmark for Latin American art in Colombia, with a history that combines tradition and avant-garde. In 2025, it presented an ambitious program that included solo exhibitions and participation in international fairs, highlighting its expertise in curation. For example, its specialized line, Duque Arango Contemporáneo, selects unique proposals for their originality and projection, which was reflected in each exhibition. Throughout the year, the gallery brought together both established masters and new talents, reinforcing its reputation as a key art gallery space in Latin America.
Participation in international fairs
In 2025, Duque Arango reaffirmed its global vocation by attending world-renowned fairs.
Zona Maco (Mexico City, February 5-9, 2025) – Latin America’s most important art fair – was attended by the gallery. There, Duque Arango presented its own curatorial selection that highlighted the dialogue between the modern and the contemporary in Latin American art.
Su selección incluyó obras de maestros históricos (como Fernando Botero, Rufino Tamayo, Leonora Carrington, Olga de Amaral, Oswaldo Guayasamín o Wifredo Lam) junto con piezas de artistas contemporáneos (como Ariel Cabrera, Reynier Ferrer y Sair García). Esta combinación de voces permitió a la galería mostrar la continuidad de la tradición pictórica latinoamericana desde una perspectiva actualizada.
At the Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary 2025 fair (Florida, March 2025), Duque Arango participated with a booth where it exhibited a selection of works that explore the frontiers of contemporary art. At this fair, Duque Arango Gallery highlighted the work of its contemporary artists.
In Palm Beach, pieces by creators such as Alejandra Aristizábal, Javier Caraballo, Sair García and Gustavo Vélez were integrated, along with international names (Ugo Rondinone).
The presence in Palm Beach extended the gallery’s visibility and reinforced its international projection, showing how its native artists engage with current global art trends.
En diciembre de 2025 la galería llevó su curaduría a Art Miami 2025 (Miami, EE. UU.), bajo el lema “Masters and Heirs”. En esta propuesta Duque Arango puso en diálogo a grandes maestros latinoamericanos con artistas contemporáneos latinoamericanos. Se incluyeron obras de figuras históricas (Wifredo Lam, Olga de Amaral, Fernando Botero, Rufino Tamayo, Joaquín Torres García) junto a creaciones de contemporáneos colombianos (Sair García, Ariel Cabrera, Javier Caraballo, Reynier Ferrer, Darío Ortiz, Alejandra Aristizábal).
The curatorial approach emphasized the continuity of cultural heritage: Art Miami visitors were able to contrast the enduring strength of the classics with the most avant-garde proposals of the current scene. With this, Duque Arango reaffirmed its role as one of the Latin American art galleries that connects modern heritage with contemporary innovation.
Featured exhibitions at Duque Arango Gallery
- “Metanarratives” (February–April 2025) – Ariel Cabrera: Cuban painter Ariel Cabrera presented Metanarratives, a series of canvases in which he questions the linearity of time and weaves together fragmented stories.
This exhibition was a pictorial exploration that challenges the linearity of time and history, weaving fragmented narratives where past, present, and future converge on the same stage. Cabrera combines historical archetypes with contemporary elements in each scene, inviting reflection on how collective memory is constructed and reinterpreted.
With great technical virtuosity, the exhibition showed her interest in the complexity of identity (influenced by her experience between Cuba and exile) and visual storytelling as a form of cultural criticism.
- “Realismo Contemporáneo” (abril–julio 2025) – Carlos Vega: en esta muestra el pintor colombiano Carlos Vega expuso una serie de óleos que dialogan con la historia del arte moderno. El título “Realismo Contemporáneo” alude a su enfoque: Vega pinta objetos triviales (bolsas de museo, esculturas icónicas en museos o turistas tomando fotos) para cuestionar qué vale la pena ser pintado en un mundo sobresaturado de imágenes.
- “Saint George and the Legend of the Dragon” (September–October 2025) – David Manzur: This monographic exhibition brought together the celebrated series by the master David Manzur dedicated to the myth of Saint George.
En las obras presentadas (su mayoría en una técnica de pastel sobre papel), Manzur reinterpreta el héroe guerrero no como figura triunfante, sino como un combatiente suspendido en un instante de resistencia, mientras el dragón deviene metáfora de la violencia y el caos. Las composiciones dramáticas, cargadas de simbolismo barroco y teatralidad, ejemplifican la maestría del artista. Con esta muestra, Duque Arango ofreció a los visitantes la oportunidad de sumergirse en el universo pictórico de uno de los grandes referentes nacionales, consolidando además el vínculo histórico entre la galería y Manzur (quien incluso inauguró la exposición de manera personal).
Each of these exhibitions reflects Duque Arango Gallery’s key role in the cultural scene. Its curatorial approach combines tradition and innovation, connecting established masters with emerging voices and reaffirming the gallery’s commitment to quality and excellence.
Contemporary Duke Arango
Duque Arango Contemporáneo (the venue dedicated to emerging art) organized several highly significant solo exhibitions in 2025. Each show featured a rigorous curatorial approach and showcased top-tier artists. The most notable are described below:
- “Reading Love” (March 2025) – Azull Martínez: This exhibition by Colombian artist Azull Martínez moves between theory and practice to explore love as a personal experience, considering the artist as a being who creates from his intimate feelings.
Azull boldly employs abstraction and color, transforming everyday symbols into portals between the tangible and the intangible. His work is not presented as a finished object, but as “a territory under construction” where each viewer completes the meaning with their own perspective.
With this proposal, Duque Arango Contemporáneo highlighted how expression can address universal themes (such as love) in an intimate and philosophical way, demonstrating its expertise in profound thematic programs.
- “AKASHA” (mayo–junio 2025) – Alejandro Rauhut: la muestra AKASHA, inaugurada en mayo, expuso la visión sensorial y espiritual del artista Alejandro Rauhut. El término sánscrito akasha alude al éter como “el quinto elemento” que une fuego, aire, tierra y agua. En esta serie, Rauhut empleó vidrio, metales y pigmentos naturales en complejas estructuras geométricas fractales para evocar lo esencial e invisible del universo
The exhibition offered a multisensory journey where matter (glass, metal, pigments) is integrated with visual energy, seeking to expand the viewer’s consciousness.
- A Lomo (septiembre – octubre) Wilson Guerrero: En la sede de Duque Arango Contemporáneo también se destacó “A lomo, del pintor Wilson Guerrero. Esta exposición puso en el centro la figura de la mula como símbolo de la fuerza campesina y de la relación entre el individuo y la tierra en Colombia.
- “In Black: Figure and Light” (November 2025–January 2026) – Daniel Estrada: This photographic exhibition by artist Daniel Estrada explored the relationship between light and form through equestrian scenes and abstractions.
In the series presented (such as The Dance of the Spanish Horse or Procession of Charges), dramatic chiaroscuro and the capture of frenetic gestures dominate, recalling Muybridge’s experiments in movement or Goya’s baroque tension. With the exhibition In Black: Figure and Light, Duque Arango once again demonstrated its solid curatorial expertise by rescuing contemporary artistic photography; the exhibition, carefully curated at Duque Arango Contemporáneo, underscores its mission to expand the boundaries of the photographic medium within the contemporary art circuit.
