Born in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1994, Juan Álvarez Bolaños is an artist, thinker, and sometimes poet, whose work seeks to unravel the essence of the human experience through the lens of absurdity. He studied seven semesters of graphic design at the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University and four semesters at the Piloto University of Colombia. He does not hold a formal degree.
Juan David has traveled various paths, from waiting tables and washing dishes in Australia and the United States to working as a draftsman in an engineering company. But it was in the reflective solitude of art that he found his true voice. Deeply inspired by Albert Camus's "The Stranger," which marked the beginning of his intellectual journey seven years ago, the texts of Emil Cioran, Fernando Pessoa, and Charles Bukowski have also influenced his worldview and art. It is mainly through these authors that he has embraced the concept of absurdity, seeing it reflected in every moment of his wakefulness.
His interests include contemporary thinkers who explore the human experience beyond ontological and Dionysian constructs, poetry that authentically evokes the essence of our existence, and images that capture the creativity and potency of the human mind. In his work, Juan David seeks to reveal the latent potential in every human being.
His intention as an artist is to explore and showcase absurdity in such a vivid manner that anyone, regardless of their background or culture, can experience it in an embodied way. The inspiration he found in the absurdity of Camus and Cioran led him to take photographs with new clarity and purpose, focused on capturing that universal, embodied, and powerful feeling. His most recent photographic series, a conjunction of documentary, portraiture, and landscape photography, is a visual testimony to his philosophical exploration.
Juan David aspires for his art to be a window into the absurdity he believes we share, allowing each viewer, regardless of their background or culture, to live and experience it deeply and tangibly. His intention is to unravel the mystery of our existence through works of art.
