Antonia Caicedo Holguín

Installation View of ‘This Seat Is Taken’

LKIF Gallery is pleased to present ‘This Seat Is Taken’, Antonia Caicedo Holguín’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, and this marks her first in Asia.

Antonia Caicedo Holguín, Carry me with you, 2024, Oil on canvas, 71 x 107 cm

The artist creates new narratives on the canvas based on her autobiographical memories since her childhood. In this new body of work, chairs, key clues to comprehend the story, appear in diverse circumstances, transforming into symbols of human presence and absence. They serve as metaphors for the human experience, reflecting our journeys, struggles, and connections. In some pieces, figures are seated on chairs, representing moments of rest, or dreaming of their future. We try to search for a personal and meaningful space. Holguín says “The chair represents not just a physical seat, but a conceptual space where one can pause, reflect, and engage with the world.” Anyone may have heard ‘This Seat Is Taken,’ a title of this exhibition, at least once, and the sentence is interpreted as a sense of relief when we found our own place. The works in this exhibition are about the universal pursuit of us discovering and defining ourselves in the world.

Antonia Caicedo Holguín, Dream maker, 2024, Acrylic on panel, 10 x 10 cm

In this exhibition, the audience encounters a sequential timeline of her life along with each canvas. She recollects her cherished memories and transforms them into fictional stories, featuring characters such as her family, friends, lovers and sometimes strangers on the scene depicting everyday life. “These moments have to be seen. I need to tell these stories.” she added.

Antonia Caicedo Holguín, Dreaming with my feet, 2024, Oil on panel, 30 x 30 cm

Her characters are often situated in detailed surroundings, which spark the audience to become curious about the central character and even about the supporting characters of the scene. In , cluttered chairs and dishes on the table hint that the table and chairs were occupied before. Are those two hugging tight saying good-bye? Or hello? The woman wearing a red vest gazes out the audience as if she understands everything. The audience is also curious about the characters in . The scene is composed by two characters on the left side of the painting, who seem to be having a serious conversation sitting aside the table and there is another woman seeming nonchalant with her earphones on. Through the open door, another room is visible, empty and with ivy leaves protruding from outside the window. The man’s glass on the table gleams silently. The relationship between these three figures is unknown. The artist titled this piece implying that we all pursue the same thing. Interpretation lies with the audience.

Antonia Caicedo Holguín, Hold me in your arms, 2024, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 100 x 105 cm

One of the artist’s distinct stylistic choices is the different nuances in brush strokes, as well as her color application. Pleats of the skirt of the woman dancing and the orange textured sunset in , gleaming earrings of the woman and the man’s glass in , and the flow of light and the textures of walls and floors seen in various indoor scenes all captivate the audience’s gaze.

Antonia Caicedo Holguín, Pas de deux, 2024, Acrylic on panel, 20 x 26 cm

Latin American culture has served as one of the central influences to Caicedo Holguín’s oeuvre. Dancing is one of her favorable motifs recurring in her paintings. In this exhibition, characters dancing appeared in and . In , the girl holding two intertwined chairs is associated with the title meaning “a dance of two”, foreshadowing her own desire for romantic relationships.

The artist presents feelings and stories of childhood, youth, attachment and belongings, intertwining biographical and symbolic elements. This thought-provoking show is a reflection on the human’s pursuit of meaning.

LKIF GALLERY
2F, 36-63 Hannam-daero 27-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul 04399
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