This text by Colombian poet Elkin Restrepo (b. 1942) discusses the first retrospective of artist Oscar Jaramillo (b. 1947) and the environment in which Jaramillo worked. The article was initially published in the Medellín newspaper, El Mundo, on August 13, 1983. As is evident from the exhibition Oscar Jaramillo: Retrospectiva-dibujos 1971−1988, held at the Museo de Arte Moderno of Medellín in October 1988, Jaramillo’s interest in urban nightlife, which he expressed in drawings and prints, was longstanding.
In his work, Jaramillo observes and explores the taverns and brothels of his native Medellín. The twisted faces of men and women expectant in the night (prostitutes and their clients, homosexuals and transvestites) are captured by the artist’s keen eye. When Restrepo wrote this text, Jaramillo was receiving attention for rediscovering the sordid side of the city. His work along those lines was included in exhibitions and events that illustrated the rise of drawing and printmaking in Colombia in the seventies, specifically the first and second editions of the Bienal Americana de Artes Gráficas de Cali (1971 and 1973), Barranquilla, Cali and Medellín (1974), Once antioqueños (1975), Cinco dibujantes (1975) and Novísimos colombianos in Caracas, Venezuela (1977).
According to Restrepo, the Primera Bienal de Coltejer (1968) was a decisive event insofar as it gave rise to a number of new approaches among young artists at the center of the Medellín art scene of the seventies. In those years, both critics and art historians took notice of the graphic arts being produced in cities of the Colombian provinces (Medellín and Cali), specifically works that addressed the urban environment from a realist stance.
Poet Elkin Restrepo has a law degree from the Universidad de Antioquia, where he is also a professor of literature. He has directed the magazines Poesía and Deshora. In recent years, he has participated in exhibitions of drawings and prints.