COURTESY THE ARTIST AND KOHN GALLERY
The Los Angeles–based Kohn Gallery now represents artist Maria Berrio, who will have her first solo there in June, which will also be her first in the city.
Berrio has drawn inspiration from her childhood spent in the countryside surrounding Bogotá, Colombia, and much of her practice addresses immigrant experiences and identities. Her mixed-media artworks on canvas often incorporate multilayered Japanese rice paper. These collages frequently feature centralized female figures, which are painted in watercolor.
Her work was included in Prospect 4 Triennial in New Orleans, which took place in 2017, and the recent exhibition “People Get Ready: Building a Contemporary Collection” at the Nasher Museum of Art in Durham, North Carolina. Berrio has also created a permanent installation commissioned by the MTA Arts and Design program in New York, which will be unveiled in the spring.
“We consider questions related to identity heavily in terms of Kohn Gallery’s program, and I think it’s a topic more prevalent today than ever,” Joshua Friedman, the gallery’s director, said in a statement. “As the gallery continues to grow and expand its roster of emerging artists, providing greater platforms in topics such as gender, race, or sexuality, we are honored to welcome Maria’s truly distinctive voice to ours.”