Biography
Karen Paulina Biswell, born in 1983 to Colombian parents who fled the political violence of the 1990s, divides her time between Paris and Bogotá. Her work explores vulnerability, femininity and human destiny. She took part in the Dusseldorf Photo + Biennial with ?KIMA?, a collaborative project with Maria Amilbia Siagama Siagama, guardian of the memory of the Embera community. In 2021, she will create the installation-performance Villa Eden at the Hôtel La Louisiane, under the direction of Pascal Beausse.
In 2018, she will carry out the ?Chère Pipi? project in French Guiana thanks to a residency at the Musée du Quai Branly. In 2019, her installation Body is presented at the A4 Art Museum in Chengdu, continuing her reflections on the body as an interface of understanding. Her work has been exhibited in Miami, Montreal, New York, Medellin and Arles. A prizewinner at the ?Strike a Pose? 2022 festival in Dusseldorf, she has also won several international awards. Her work can be found in the collections of prestigious institutions, including the Musée du Quai Branly and the MAMM.
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Selection of solo exhibitions
2023 Ellas, galerie Intervalle (Paris, France)
2022 Kima, w Maria Amailbia Siagama Siagama, wilpalms gallery for Düsseldorf Photo + (Dusseldorf, Germany)
2021 Villa Eden, w Aicanon curation de by Pascal Beausse, Hotel La Louisiane (Paris, France)
2021 Shenti, Dali Photo Festival (Dali, China)
2020 Chère Pipi, Musée Du Quai Branly (Paris, France)
2019 Shenti / Body, A4 Art Museum, directed by Cai Liyuan (Chengdu, China)
2019 Las tres marias, SÂLMON< - FESTIVAL (Barcelona, Spain)
2018 Ellas, Valenzuela Klenner Gallery, curated by Sophie Boursat (Bogota, Colombia)
2017 La Dernière Lune, Les Rencontres Photographiques de Guyane (French Guiana)
2016 Nama Bu, le Forum Montesquieu (Bordeaux, France)
2015 Nama Bu, le Rocher de Palmer (Bordeaux, France)
2015 Nama Bu, Valenzuela Klenner Gallery, curated by Julien Petit (Bogota, Colombia)
2013 Hôtel Dorantes, FIDAAC (Bordeaux, France)
2012 Radio Macondo, LA OTRA, Independent Contemporary Art Fair (Cartagena, Colombia)
2010 A tres Bandas, Valenzuela Klenner Gallery, curated by Julien Petit (Bogota, Colombia)
Selection of group exhibitions
2022 Arte Vivo, Claustro de las Aguas, curated by Claudia Ramirez (Bogota, Colombia)
2022 Preludio, Ses Dotze Naus, curated by Fernando De La Cuesta (Ibiza, Spain)
2022 SIE = ellas Strike a Pose, wildpalms (Düsseldorf, Germany)
2022 House on the ocean, wildpalms (Düsseldorf, Germany)
2022 I segreti d'Efra, Museo Val Versazca (Sonogno, Switzerland)
2021 Un paisaje nunca es inocente, Instituto de Vision (Bogota, Colombia)
2021 Ires y Venires, Museo Banco de la Republica, curated by Estrella De Diego and Julien Petit (Bogota, Colombia)
2021 Arte Vivo, Claustro de las Aguas, curated by Claudia Ramirez (Bogota, Colombia)
2021 Club Quarantina, wildpalms, curated by Gilles Neiens (Düsseldorf, Germany)
2021 Magical Operations, wildpalms (Düsseldorf, Germany)
2021 Club Quarantina, Grimmuseum Gallery, curated by Gilles Neiens (Berlin, Germany)
2020 Té de Bogotá, wildpalms (Düsseldorf, Germany)
2019 Art and social unrest in the Jorge M. Perez Collection, curated by Jose Roca, Espacio 23 (Miami, USA)
2019 Arte Vivo, Expo Artesanias, curated by Maria Wills (Bogota, Colombia)
2019 Ven y cuéntame la verdá, Valenzuela Klenner Gallery (Bogota, Colombia)
2019 Libertad, MOMENTA - Biennale de l'Image, curated by Maria Wills (Montréal, Canada)
2019 LUJURIA, Casa Hoffman, curated by Carolina Ponce de Leon (Bogota, Colombia)
2018 La Vuelta, MAMM, Medellin Museum of Modern Art, curated by Carolina Ponce de Leon (Colombia)
2018 Hybridtopographies, 60 Wall Gallery, Deutsche Bank, curated by Monica Espinel (New York, United States)
2018 MEMENTO.CAB, Fondation Vasarély (Aix-en-Provance, France)
2017 ATTACHES, Cité Internation des Arts, curated by Claire Luna (Paris, France)
2017 Deseo, MAMM, Medellin Museum of Modern Art (Medellin, Colombia)
2017 La Vuelta, Les Rencontres de la photographie, curated by Sam Stourdze and Carolina Ponce de Leon (Arles, France)
2017 La Vuelta, J1, curated by Sam Stourdze and Carolina Ponce de Leon, Marseille, France)
2016 Nama Bu, Foto Feminas, Just Another Photo Festival (Varanasi, India)
2016 Nama Bu, Foto Feminas, Pingyao International Photography Festival (Pingyao, China)
2016 Swinging Bamako, Les Rencontres de la photographie, curated by Sam Stourdze (Arles, France)
2015 Epiphany, Festival FOTO de Verzasca (Valle Verzasca, Switzerland).
2014 Angkor Photo Festival (Siem Reap, Cambodia)
2014 FIDAAC (Vilnius, Lithuania)
2014 POV Female Bogota, at the Valenzuela Klenner gallery, curated by oodee books (Bogota, Colombia)
2013 Taxonomy of desire, Vasli Souza (Malmö, Sweden)
2013 Taxonomy of desire, Espacio Rita (Nagoya, Japan)
Awards
2021 Strike a Pose Festival, (Germany) / Winner
2019 Prix Pictet / Nominated
2018 Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac residency programme / Winner
2017 World Press -The 6×6 Global Talent Program / Nominated
2016 Gd4Photoart Award from the MAST Foundation / Nominated
2016 Higashikawa Prize (Japan) / Nominated
2016 Prix de la Photo Madame Figaro Arles (France) / Nominated
2014 World Press Photo-Joop Swart Masterclass / Nominated
2013 IX Premio Colombo-Suizo de fotografía (Colombia) / Second Prize
2012 La Lettre de Photographie - Bourse du Talent : Portrait (France) / Nominated
Collections
PAMM - Pérez Art Museum Miami, United States
Jorge M. Perez Collection - Espacio 23, Miami, United States
Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, France
Ses Dotze Naus Foundation (Ibiza, Spain)
Museo del Banco de la Republica (Colombia)
MAMM - Medellín Museum of Modern Art
La Collection des Rencontres d'Arles, Musée Reattu, Arles, FR.
Residencies
2019 A4 Art Museum (Chengdu, China)
2018 Photographic residency, Musée Du Quai Branly, (Paris, France)
2017 Les Rencontres Photographiques de Guyane (French Guiana, France)
2016 Ses Dotze Naus (Ibiza, Spain)
2015 Verzasca Foto (Sonogno, Switzerland)