LT Projects proudly presents the exhibition Four Cardinal Points, a gathering of masters seeking to map out excellence. In this showcase, Santiago Cárdenas, Álvaro Marín, Luis Hernando Giraldo, and Juliana Ríos—each representing a distinct direction—become the cardinal points: a heading, a path, and a journey. Whether through their historical legacy or their vibrant present, they have established themselves as unavoidable benchmarks for new generations of creators.
The exhibition brings together four groups of works, each representing a milestone in the artist's career. These are masterpieces that capture the purest essence of their visual research—a synthesis of technical mastery and a clear declaration of their identity as artists.
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Santiago Cárdenas | The Guide of Perception Through his iconic Tableros (Chalkboards), Cárdenas positions himself at the helm of perception. These works represent the moment the artist transcended painting to enter the realm of the metaphysical. By emulating erased slates, chalk remnants, and worn surfaces, Cárdenas does more than deceive the eye (trompe-l'œil); he forces us to confront the void. These boards are the milestone that redefined realism in Colombia, transforming it into a philosophical exercise on the existence of the object and its representation.
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Álvaro Marín | The Return to Structure The presence of Álvaro Marín’s works—originally presented for the Medellín Biennial—marks a return to structure. This body of work serves as a testament to an artist who found a universal language in geometry and the decomposition of color. His formal rigor and phenomenological study of light remain a compass for those seeking a response to chaos through abstraction. Marín represents the mastery of the exact, where color is not an ornament but the protagonist of a visual architecture.
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Luis Hernando Giraldo | Orientation Toward the Root With the series "La montaña cuenta una historia" (The Mountain Tells a Story), Giraldo directs us toward our roots. This milestone symbolizes the profound connection between the artist and the territory. Through material gesturalism and pigments that seem extracted from the earth itself, Giraldo elevates the landscape of San Antonio to a mythical dimension. His work is a reference point for understanding art as a deposit of memory and sediment—a reminder that nature is not something we observe, but something that narrates and constitutes us.
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Juliana Ríos Martínez | The Contemporary Rite The journey culminates with the monumental works of the "Procesión de la Promesa Peregrina" (Procession of the Pilgrim’s Promise). These pieces represent a contemporary milestone where painting overflows its traditional limits to become body and ritual. Inspired by the popular devotion of the Caribbean, Ríos ensures the work is not a static object but a visual pilgrimage. Her ability to handle epic scales and narratives of faith positions her as a powerful contemporary voice, reminding us that art is, above all, an act of spiritual and communal resistance.
