Rafael Gomez Barros

The man who became famous for invading galleries and public buildings with gigantic ants, Rafael Gomez Barros, made it his purpose to interrogate and challenge the political situation and history of violence of his home country, Columbia. The ants that he created from the casts of two human skulls tied together bring sharply to mind the thin veil between life and death. In covering public facades such as the Colombian National Congress in ‘House Taken’ (2010) with his creatures, Gomez Barros’ intention was to make visible the overlooked, to address the plight of millions of displaced people who constitute an invisible but pervasive mass of immigrants from all over the world looking for asylum. This was also a tribute to the thousands of Colombians who suffered displacement and violent deaths as causalities of the armed conflict that brought chaos to the country for the most part of the last fifty years. Gomez Barros’s political works address the violence of Columbian history as well as the fragility of the human condition generally, with works such as ‘Patronus’ (2015) reflecting on human conditioning and the social transition of knowledge. This said, his most recent work ‘Strength’ (2018), shows positivity in thinking about human potential. The artist brought together over 70 tons of cement fists that represent the potential of human unity and persistence.