In a polarised time, when everyone is arguing about identity, the conversation has overlooked the inclusive, flexible tradition of mestizo Latin America, which fuses colonial, indigenous and slave cultures to transcend national and historical boundaries. Sculpting in wood and rags, and employing an aesthetic that ranges from the carnivalesque to the organic and raw, Colombian artist, Carlos Zapata, engages equally the riches and horrors of history to express a plural unity. Folk and tribal art meet Christian iconography and merge spiritual and political realities. Fetish and icon become interchangeable. War is paired with the intimate and supernatural.

Recipient of The Threadneedle Art Prize, Zapata’s work is held in collections around the world, including London’s Natural History Museum, The Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco, The Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia, The Arima Museum and Gumma Museum in Japan, and Museo Parque De Las Ciencias in Granada, Spain.

 In tandem with the opening, The Baldwin will be launching The Mestizo Art of Carlos Zapata, the first Baldwin monograph, produced in collaboration with Momentum Books, with photography by Oceana Masterman-Smith (and select photos by David Ellingsen) and articles by Dennison Smith, Carlos Zapata and Verity Seward.

Plus … it’s The Baldwin’s two year anniversary!

You are invited to celebrate with us two years of curating dialogue between cultures, nature and art, championing Native North American art and environmental art in London, and procuring and consulting for museums, cultural institutions, arts organizations and collectors internationally. Please do come join us for art, wine, canapés, and conversation.