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Born into the Colombian bourgeoisie, Pepe Gaitan has chosen to live a life of asceticism, the only pleasure of which comes directly from the daily reading he does in the national library in Bogotá. From these books, he selects pages that he photocopies and obliterates the counterforms. It is around these phantom graphemes that he composes his sibylline collages. In 2020, the Centre d’Art Contemporain de Genève honoured him in scrivere designando, an exhibition curated by Andrea Bellini and Sarah Lombardi.
Pepe disappeared at the beginning of 2022 without having completely solved the mystery of the amoebas running through the lines of his books.

portrait of pepe gaitàn - © christian berst — art brut
Date 1959 — 2022
Country Colombia

Pepe Gaitán comes from a bourgeois family. His father died when he was very young. His mother is still alive, and has him over every saturday for breakfast so that he can read her the newspaper.He pursued his studies in social communication and was a professor for a while. He was particularly interested in radio.

In 1975, the curious expression “Don’t eat so many sweets if you don’t want to catch amoebas” seemed to be the catalyst for a turning point in his life. It was indeed after this moment that he began his work. He spent his days in libraries, picked texts meticulously, photocopied them and then added his touch, first by crossing out most of the letters, then transforming the page by adding collages and signs always with a very particular chromatic range. The echoes of forms that recall a sort of codification give these works a striking geometric force. Each page hides amoebas that he calls pseudopods.He lives alone today in Bogota and draws constantly.

Pepe Gaitán was notably featured in 2014 in the exhibition art brut collection abcd / Bruno Decharme at the Maison rouge.

Artworks
Please contact us to inquire about the available works.
untitled - © christian berst — art brut
untitled, 2000
11.02 x 8.27 in
untitled - © christian berst — art brut
untitled, 2000
8.27 x 11.02 in
untitled - © christian berst — art brut
untitled, 2000
11.02 x 8.27 in
untitled - © christian berst — art brut
untitled, 2000
11.02 x 8.27 in
untitled - © christian berst — art brut
untitled, 2000
8.27 x 11.02 in
untitled - © christian berst — art brut
untitled, 2000
10.63 x 8.27 in
Catalog
Pepe Gaitán ephiphany
Pepe Gaitán : ephiphany - © christian berst — art brut

Prefaces : Johanna Calle Gregg & Julio Perez Navarrete
Foreword : Christian Berst
Catalog published to mark the exhibition Pepe Gaitán : ephiphany, from september 9th to october 11th, 2014.

Exhibitions
do the write thing :
read between the lines #3, main gallery. From April 2 to May 22, 2022.
Eureka !
Centro de arte Oliva, Portugal. From July 23, 2021 to August 27, 2022.
Photo Brut
Coll. Bruno Decharme & cie, American Folk Art Museum, New York. From January 24 to June 6, 2021.
Fiac
#47, cancelled. From October 21 to 25, 2020.
Scrivere Disegnando
when the language seeks its other, Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève . From January 29 to August 23, 2020.
View more
À deux
by Gustavo Giacosa, galerie Zola, Aix-en-Provence. From January 17 to March 7, 2020.
Photo Brut
coll. Bruno Decharme & cie, Rencontre d'Arles. From July 1 to September 22, 2019.
SESSIONS #7
tandem, at Bertrand Grimont gallery. From July 13 to 28, 2018.
do the write thing 2
read between the lines, at the gallery. From April 26 to June 2, 2018.
drawing now 2018
Carreau du Temple. From March 22 to 25, 2018.
heterotopias
architectural dwellings, at the gallery. From December 9, 2017 to January 20, 2018.
in abstracto
at the gallery. From June 8 to July 15, 2017.
Art Brut
A Story of Individual Mythologies, Treger Saint Silvestre Collection, Portugal. From January 1 to February 26, 2017.
galeristes
salon des galeries et des collectionneurs engagés , carreau du temple. From December 8 to 11, 2016.
Brut Now
art brut in the technological era, Belfort Museums . From October 29, 2016 to January 16, 2017.
Cracking The Code
Appleton Square, Lisbonne. From October 7 to November 3, 2016.
Writescape
Textual Poetry of Art Brut, Entrepot Gallery, Monaco. From July 12 to September 29, 2016.
PreTENse
at the Gallery. From September 12 to October 10, 2015.
Art brut live
DOX centre for contemporary art, Praha. From March 27 to August 17, 2015.
Drawing Now 2015
Carreau du Temple, Paris. From March 25 to 29, 2015.
do the write thing
read between the lines, new york gallery. From October 30 to December 21, 2014.
(OFF)ICIELLE
cité de la mode et du design. From October 22 to 26, 2014.
Art brut
ABCD Collection / Bruno Decharme, la Maison rouge, Paris. From October 17, 2014 to January 18, 2015.
pepe gaitán
epiphany, at the gallery. From September 9 to October 11, 2014.
exhibition view of *pepe gaitán, epiphany*, christian berst art brut, paris, 2014. - © christian berst art brut, christian berst — art brut
exhibition view of *scrivere designando : when language seeks its other*, contemporary art center, geneva, switzerland, 2020. - © contemporary art center geneva, christian berst — art brut
exhibition view of *pepe gaitán, epiphany*, christian berst art brut, paris, 2014. - © christian berst art brut, christian berst — art brut
Press review
L’art brut mis en avant à la galerie l’Entrepôt
Monaco Info. July 14, 2016.
Pepe Gaitan, ou l’art de la lettre barrée
La Rédacton, Libération.com. October 7, 2014.
Brutes de l’art
Marie Zawisza, Le Monde. October 4, 2014.
Pepe Gaitán
François Salmeron, Paris Art. September 19, 2014.
Pepe Gaitán
Bénedicte Philippe, Télérama Sortir. September 4, 2014.
View more
L’art brut à contre courant
Aurelie Romanacce, Pascaline Vallee Et Patrick Le Fur, Arts Magazine. August 29, 2014.
Collections
Carmen and Daniel Klein collection
Switzerland
Antoine Frérot collection
France
abcd / Bruno Decharme collection
France
Treger Saint Silvestre collection
Portugal
Pepe Gaitán

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