Sara Modiano

Sara Modiano was born on January 11, 1951 in Barranquilla, Colombia to Jacques Modiano and Eva Grunfeld. Modiano started off studying Mathematics at the University of Los Andes in Bogotá, but soon transferred to the School of Fine Arts at Atlantic University in Barranquilla. Over the course of her career, she's been in a multitude of group exhibitions, had 9 solo exhibitions, and received 5 awards in her honor. Her artwork can be found anywhere from the Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá, Colombia to the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California. However, Modiano was not consistent in her form of art works 1987 to 2001, having the human body be the muse for her work and a possible foreshadowment concerning her own body and health. In 2006, Modiano was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and died in 2010. The four years in between her death, however, were focused on a new medium; performance art. She died at 59, but her three children keep her artwork alive through the Fundación Sara Modiano para las Artes (Sara Modiano Foundation for the Arts).[1]

• Cube Project, 2004 [7]
• Posibilidad de dos ventanas, 1977
• Cuatro ventanas, 1977
• Desaparece una cultura, 1981
• Intimate, 2002
• Reflect, 2007

• 1974
  • first individual exhibition at the Barrios Gallery of Barranquilla
• 1975
  • artwork got published in the Diners magazine
  • awarded the University of Chile prize
  • individual exhibition at Belarca Gallery, Bogota, Colombia
• 1979
  • individual exhibition at Galeria de la Oficina, Medellin, Colombia
  • individual exhibition at Centro Colombo Americano, Barranquilla, Colombia
• 1980
  • was in the 6th Salon Atenas - secured Modiano's medium with conceptual, three-dimensional projects [1]
• 1981
  • represented Colombia with 3 other artists at the 16th Bienal de São Paulo
• 1982
  • in Madrid's International Art Fair
  • opened her own gallery of contemporary art called 'Espacio Alterno' (Alternative Space)
• 2003
  • Permanent Collection, Museum of Modern Art, Bogota, Colombia
  • "Art Loves Design" individual exhibition at Miami Beach, Florida
  • individual exhibition of "La Resistencia de L'Art"
    • "La Resistencia de L'Arte", Palma de Mallorca, Spain

All Modiano's works show great appreciation and representation of introspection and spirituality within herself leaving the viewer to think inward and reflect on their being.[9] Beginning in the 90s, Sara Modiano's style of work demonstrates a shift from installations, paintings, and sculpture to performance art and photography.[10] This shift in style was pivotal in accentuating the new messages and interpretations Modiano was demonstrating. While continuing to express the theme of introspection, she began to place more focus on her sexuality, individuality, life, and ecstatic moments. Through this, Modiano shines a light on the female body and femininity through sexuality by making the audience question how they perceive the introspective, subliminal side of all women.[10]

Inside Out from her Fragmented series shows a fragmented photograph zoomed into her face capturing the móment she reaches orgasm. Modiano used this moment of sexual arousal to represent the start of new life as well as a similarity all humans experience with one another: sexual pleasure.[10] Similar to this piece is Conexión Interior, a photograph of Modiano with a focus on her torso and chest while her face is turned away. This feeling and illusion of fragmentation was a common technique Modiano used in many more of her photographic pieces. She integrated geometrical shapes, such as cubes/squares, to the photographs of herself to further solidify pinnacle moments, such as orgasms, as ethereal and intangible.[11]

One of her last works was in 2007 titled Reflect. This photographic self-portrait series is slightly different from Inside Out and Conexión Interior because Modiano demonstrates herself in a new elevated way without the geometric illusion. Her body is fully painted to make herself look metallic as she is in front of a plain blue background. The self-portraits come from still of Modiano in motion as she expressed four heightened emotions: agony, pain, love, and ecstasy.[10] Modiano shows her emotional, raw self yet again while calling to question our ideas and notions on how we identify ourselves. She portrayed herself as almost an extraterrestrial being with the contrast of colors while making the viewer reflect on how all humans have felt the emotions of pain, love, agony, and ecstasy before. Modiano described how this series made her feel about herself: "a woman with a big ego".[10]

Sara Modiano had a professional art career of forty years where she made clear demonstration of advanced conceptual and introspective ideas on humanity, emotions, and sexuality.[9] A few years before she passed, her work was recognized and praised by the director of the "IKF (International Kids Fund) Latin American Art Auction" by having her work chosen for the event on many occasions.[13] She will always be recognized as an important and active artist who was part of the Branquilla movement from the 1980s[14] as well as a staple of Colombian art heritage.[9] It has been over 10 years since she has passed and her work continues to be displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá (MoMAB).[13]

Sara Modianos life is recognized and honored every year, since 2013, through the Sara Modiao Grant granted by The Sara Modiano Foundation for the Arts to young Latin American artists in Colombia.[15] Through the course of Modiano's career, she believed in making art an accessibility for everyone and anyone,[15] and through this foundation created by her children, her staple in the art world will be passed down for generations.