CAPELAN Carlos

Carlos Capelán (Montevideo, Uruguay, 1948) is a contemporary artist. His conceptual work includes drawings and paintings, his installations are more widely known for their atmospherical impact, constituting an environment in which the viewer is free to wander around and experience notions of displacement. In 1995, Capelán received the Guggenheim Fellowship.

In 1973, Capelán moved to Lund, Sweden. Capelán studied at Grafikskolan Forum in Malmö, Sweden. Capelán currently resides in Moravia, Costa Rica.

Carlos Capelán is a link between the Swedish art scene and the artistic preoccupations and trends of the international avant-garde. Born in Montevideo in 1948, he is one of the artists who in the 1980s turned towards a broader international context. He has been represented at numerous international exhibitions in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the USA and Europe, including the biennials in Havana, São Paolo and Kwangju. In the context of international shows, his works are obvious contributions to the debate on globalisation, international communities, language and power. His change of scene probably made a virtue of necessity: Sweden’s art scene was too preoccupied with scrutinising Swedishness and launching it abroad, to perceive Capelán’s questioning of the claims and demands of the national state on the individuals living within its borders.