**© Olga de Amaral; Courtesy Lisson Gallery**
Alquimia XXVII, 1985
Linen, gesso, acrylic and gold leaf
150 x 180 cm
59 x 70 7/8 in

We are delighted to announce that "Alquimia XXVII" by Olga de Amaral (b. 1932, Bogotá, Colombia) will be featured at Art Basel Miami with Lisson Gallery via a prominent corporate collection. Lisson Gallery has represented Olga de Amaral since 2021, coinciding with her first major North American retrospective, To Weave a Rock. The presence of Amaral’s work at Art Basel highlights the enduring legacy of a pioneering figure in post-war abstraction and fiber art.

Olga de Amaral’s artistic practice bridges traditional fiber techniques and contemporary art, drawing deeply from Colombian heritage. Her use of gold and silver leaf references the cultural significance of these materials in pre-Hispanic and Colonial art, while her exploration of modernist grids and abstract geometry creates a compelling dialogue between past and present. By transforming textiles into monumental three-dimensional forms, her work transcends traditional categorizations, blending elements of painting, sculpture, and installation art.

Widely regarded as a pioneer of post-war Latin American abstraction, Amaral’s work occupies a distinctive place in art history. Her practice has been contextualized within the Latin American avant-garde, modernist abstraction, and the global fiber art movement. By blending elements of painting, sculpture, and installation, her work speaks to collectors who value cross-disciplinary innovation and culturally resonant artistry.

The Alquimia series, which began in 1984 and includes Alquimia XXVII, transforms textile surfaces into luminous compositions by layering materials such as gold leaf and gesso. These works evoke a dynamic interplay of light, texture, and depth while referencing the spiritual and ceremonial significance of gold, rooted in pre-Columbian traditions. The series reflects a profound dialogue between materiality and meaning, celebrating gold as both substance and symbol.

This body of work marked a pivotal moment in Olga de Amaral's career, solidifying her innovative use of gold leaf and her ability to elevate unconventional materials into profound, transcendent art. Inspired by alchemy and the Japanese practice of kintsugi, Alquimia redefined concepts of transformation and imperfection. Its impact has been recognized by major institutions such as Tate Modern, The Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which have included these works in their permanent collections, affirming the series as her most significant contribution to contemporary art.

De Amaral has been the focus of numerous significant exhibitions worldwide. Highlights include Woven Walls at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York (1970) and a landmark survey at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Bogotá (1993). Most recently, the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris is hosting her first major European retrospective, showcasing nearly eighty works from the 1960s to the present, many exhibited outside Colombia for the first time.

Her work is prominently featured in over 40 major public collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York and Kyoto; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Renwick Gallery of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Tate Modern.

Olga de Amaral’s work has garnered growing attention on the international stage, with increasing collector interest and rising secondary market activity. Series such as Alquimia and Pueblo are particularly sought after for their groundbreaking fusion of fiber art, gold leaf techniques, and modernist abstraction. These works not only appeal to collectors for their unique materiality and craftsmanship but also hold significant art historical value, underscored by their inclusion in major institutional collections worldwide. This dual recognition highlights Amaral’s lasting impact and positions her among the most innovative voices in contemporary art.