Osvaldo Cantillo Rojas

Osvaldo Cantillo Rojas was born in San Marcos, Sucre, Colombia, in 1960, during a period of significant social and cultural transformation. At the age of seventeen, he moved to Barranquilla, where he encountered artistic and social movements that would deeply influence his creative outlook, including counterculture, women’s liberation, rock music, and Pop Art.

Although his early academic training at the School of Fine Arts of the Universidad del Atlántico was rooted in a more traditional approach, Cantillo Rojas gradually developed a highly independent visual language. He later earned his degree as a Master of Fine Arts, consolidating a practice defined by experimentation, intuition, and creative freedom.

His work moves between figuration and expressive freedom, challenging conventional boundaries of representation. This approach became especially evident in “DISRUPTIVA ESTÉTICA,” an exhibition in which he presented what he describes as a form of figurative informalism—a language where recognizable forms coexist with spontaneity, gesture, and disruption.

Throughout his career, Cantillo Rojas has been recognized for his contribution to the arts and was awarded the Medal of the Grand Knight by the Congress of the Republic of Colombia, reflecting the significance of his artistic trajectory within the country’s cultural landscape.