Born and raised in Medellín, Colombia, Camilo Restrepo earned his MA in Aesthetics from the National University of Colombia in 2008 and an MFA from CalArts in 2013. He has had solo exhibitions both stateside at Steve Turner Los Angeles and abroad at Galería Santa Fe in Bogotá and Galería Banasta in Medellín. His work has been displayed at numerous international art fairs including ArtBo, Zona Maco, CODE Art Fair, and Seattle Art Fair. Restrepo was recently nominated for the Premio Luis Caballero Award, which is the most important prize in Colombia for artists over 35. PROCESS Punctuated by bright colors and cartoonish characters, Restrepo’s works represent internal and external dialogues: one relating to the psyche and a desire for perfection, the other reflecting the horrors in drug-laden Colombia. Starting with a sheet of acid-free paper, Restrepo inflicts multiple aggressive techniques upon the surface, such as submerging it under water, rubbing it against the street, and crumpling it into a large mass before drawing and painting on the individual sheets. Sourcing images from Google as an inspiration for his large, hyper-detailed surfaces, his work explores both aggression and the absurd in reaction to Colombia’s drug war and Pablo Escobar’s reign.