This year, we were thrilled to see María Berrío’s work at the ICA Boston. Berrío (born 1982) crafts her large-scale collage paintings through a unique, meticulous process of collaging torn pieces of Japanese paper with watercolor to create riveting, magical scenes. Some of the images in this post are from her exhibit at the ICA Boston.

Born in Bogotá, Columbia, María Berrío is a visual artist working in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up between a house in Bogotá and a farm in the Colombian countryside. Berrío came to the United States at the age eighteen to attend Parsons School of Design for her BFA, later completing her MFA at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan in 2007.

Berrío’s large-scale works reflect on cross-cultural connections and global migration, often highlighting  women and children. She draws inspiration from her childhood memories and South American cultural roots and landscapes.

“Much of Berrío’s work centers on the themes of women’s resilience, immigration, and climate awareness. Elegantly intertwining these three concepts throughout her art, Berrío delves into the complexities of womanhood by showing the struggles, triumphs, and challenges that women face both in private spaces and in nature. Women and children are her primary subjects, and her own personal relationships with the environment and the landscape help shape her artistic approach.” (p.109, “María Berrío: Constructing a Community of Courageous Women through Collage”)

Image 1: Ozymandias, 2022 at ICA Boston

Image 2: Under Thatch and Autumn Star, 2022 at ICA Boston

Image 3: The Conference of the Sparrows, 2023 at ICA Boston

Image 4: María Berrío in her Brooklyn studio, NY (from “We are here: visionaries of color transforming the art world”)

María Berrío: Constructing a Community of Courageous Women through Collage Cushman, Emily COLLEGE PK: Feminist Studies, Inc Feminist studies, 2022, Vol.48 (1), p.108-132

👋 Boston! We Wanted A Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85 opens today at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston and will be on view until September 30. It is the first exhibition to highlight the voices and experiences of women of color in order to reorient conversations around race, feminism, political action, art production, and art history in this significant historical period. If you have a friend in Boston who you think will enjoy this show, tell them to check it out!