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Feliciano Centurión

Feliciano Centurión

1962, San Ignacio, Paraguay – 1996, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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about

Feliciano Centurión’s work is characterized by the use of fabrics and embroidery, fields, by tradition, related to the creation of women and which are central to Paraguayan culture since the Triple Alliance War (1864-1870), or the Paraguayan War, when the country lost ninety percent of its male population. In embroidered fabrics, the artist expressed desires and ideas, as in an intimate diary. After his HIV positive diagnosis, Centurión began to report aspects of this subject in the same series, working in increasingly smaller and intricate formats.

Centurión grew up in Argentina, where he went into exile to escape Alfredo Stroessner’s dictatorship. In Buenos Aires, he proved to be a key figure in the artistic renewal movement that took place in the 1990s around the Ricardo Rojas Cultural Center. During this period, local artistic production was marked by the exploration of subjectivity in different ways, often incorporating elements of popular culture until then considered kitsch or inappropriate. Although his career has been tragically short, Centurión remains a central but little recognized figure in the recent history of contemporary art.

He participated in the 13th Shanghai Biennale – Bodies of Water (2021) and 5th Biennial of Cuba (1992), and exhibited at the Maison de L’Amerique Latine in France (1996). His works were highlighted at the 33rd Bienal de São Paulo – Affective Affinities (São Paulo, Brazil, 2018) which presented a selection of embroidery and crochet on blankets, pillows and other intimate articles by the artist. Centurión’s work has been included in recent group shows such as, in 2022: Every moment counts – AIDS and its feelings, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden, Norway; Eros Rising – Visions of the Erotic in Latin American Art, Institute for Studies on Latin American Art (ISLAA), New York, EUA; and Aó – Episodios Textiles de las Artes Visuales en el Paraguay, MALBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Centurión has had solo exhibitions such as Feliciano Centurión: Abrigo, Americas Society, New York, USA (2020); Feliciano Centurión: I am Awake, Cecilia Brunson Projects, London, UK (2019); Feliciano Centurión: The Intensities of Beauty, Cultural Centre of Spain Juan de Salazar, Asunción, Paraguay (2013); Previous Papers: sketches and drawings by Feliciano Centurión, Alberto Sendros Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2012); Feliciano Centurión, Galería Alberto Sendros, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2004).

He was the winner of the Buenos Aires City Bank Foundation Award, Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires,  Argentina  (1996) and the New World Foundation Award, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1994, 1993, 1992).

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