Fernell Franco: Amarrados [Bound]

Fernell Franco (Cali 1942-2006) is considered one of the few photographers who developed a distinct lyrical view of the shift towards modernity in Latin America. The exhibition Fernell Franco: Amarrados [Bound] is focused on the homonymous series comprising large-scale black and white photographs developed by Franco in the early 1980s.

Fernell Franco: Amarrados [Bound] features 20 vintage prints and a number of preparatory studies that Franco produced in order to create the series. Franco conceived the series in street markets in Colombia and other countries of Latin America from 1980s onwards, featuring wrapped up devices and isolated inanimate objects typically used by informal vendors to protect their merchandise. Franco’s images are devoid of human presence conveying death, solitude, violence, abandonment, and mystery.

Fernell Franco was a self-taught photographer who lived as a child through the upsurge of the Colombian civil conflict and was forced to move from rural Versalles to Cali. He worked as a photojournalist for local newspapers such as Diario Occidente, El País de Cali, and for Cromos magazine. Franco was awarded the Gold Medal at Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales en Bogotá in 1976, the First Photography Prize at the Bienal de la Habana, Cuba in 1984, and the Colombian Award for Photography in 2001. Fernell Franco: Amarrados [Bound] will be the first solo exhibition devoted to the artist in New York.

• Read a review of the exhibition on artnet.com.
• Purchase the exhibition catalogue.

This exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Fundación Fernell Franco, Colombia.

Americas Society gratefully acknowledges the generous support of our donors for the exhibition Fernell Franco: Amarrados [Bound] and accompanying public programs: Erica Roberts, PINTA Art, Solita Mishaan, Consulate General of Colombia in New York, Nohra Haime Gallery, and Anonymous.
 

In-kind support is provided by the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York, Arte al Día International, ArtNexus, and Aviatur, Colombia.

Delta Air Lines is the official airline sponsor for the Fernell Franco exhibition.

The Visual Arts program is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.