Colombia
• 1932
Biography
Olga de Amaral is a Colombian visual artist born in 1932 in Bogotá, internationally renowned for her monumental works combining weaving, painting, and sculpture. A key figure in fiber art and Latin American abstraction, she has transformed traditional textile techniques into a contemporary artistic language, integrating materials such as linen, horsehair, gesso, and gold leaf to create immersive and spiritual installations.
She studied architecture at Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca in Bogotá (1951-1952) before attending the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan (1954-1955), where she discovered textile art under the guidance of Marianne Strengell. This period was pivotal in developing her artistic approach, deeply exploring color and materiality.
In 1965, she founded and led the textile department at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, significantly contributing to the rise of textile art in Colombia. Her work is influenced by Colombian artisanal traditions, pre-Columbian cultures, and modern artistic movements, notably Latin American Modernism.
Her artworks are part of the permanent collections of prestigious museums such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, the Tate Modern in London, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.
Among her accolades, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1973 and was named "Artist Visionary" by the Museum of Arts and Design in New York in 2005.
Olga de Amaral lives and works in Bogotá, where she continues to create works that transcend the boundaries between art, craft, and design
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