Translations:Hernando Tejada/7/en

In the mid-1940s, Tejada arrived in Bogotá and encountered an active generation of artists that included Alejandro Obregón, Enrique Grau, Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar, Edgar Negret, Julio Abril and — of great significance for his foray into muralism — Ignacio Gómez Jaramillo. Around the 1950s, such was his reputation that he enjoyed high regard from the leading art critics of the time, including the Pole Casimiro Eiger and the Argentinian Marta Traba. In the 1960s he held various individual exhibitions and took part in some group shows, highlighting his work as a painter. Women are the central theme of his work, as shown by various series from the period. This interest persisted in the 1970s in the field of sculpture, when he began his work with wood. From this phase his “object-furniture” women stand out, which were titled with female names and dedicated to particular objects and functions. These carvings were prominent at a variety of events: the 2nd Coltejer Biennial in Medellín (1970) where he presented Sacramento, the 3rd Coltejer Biennial (1972) with Abigail, and the Venice Biennale (1982) where he exhibited Estefanía and Teresa. During the 1980s and 1990s, Tejada further explored his naturalist interests by producing a series of carvings on the subject of mangroves, Colombian flora and fauna and still lifes. During this period, he was also involved in the production of puppets and stage design for opera. In 1996 he sealed his artistic career with his donation of El Gato del Río (The Cat of the River) to the city of Cali, a large-scale bronze sculpture that today forms part of the cultural identity of the city and is one of its major tourist attractions.