The Nee Bex Gallery, in the home of a Frenchman in La Candelaria, is exhibiting these works by an artist from Huila Department, who gives a new twist, or a new point, to Colombia's mountainous geography. The gallery owner told me that the artist, Juan de Dios Vargas, has worked in rural schools with students who suffer from hunger, poverty and violent armed groups.
The pencil mountains may represent students' aspiration - or the difficulty and danger of surviving in Colombia's mountain ranges. They certainly took a lot of work - the artist sharpened the pencils by hand because his pencil sharpeners kept breaking.
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| A work incorporating one of the children the artist worked with. |
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| Locations of the pencil topography maps. |
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| The resident dog, Floyd. |
By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours
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