We are honored to announce the inclusion of two iconic works by Luis Fernando Zapata, “Sarcophagus No. 4” and “Ritual Object,” in the permanent collection of the @museoreinasofia as part of the landmark exhibition “Contemporary Art Collection 1975-Present.”
From the accompanying wall text, we present the following description:
“LFZ was a cult artist in his native Colombia, renowned for his exploration of themes such as spirituality and the ancestral memory of Mesoamerican cultures. His artistic career was profoundly impacted by the AIDS pandemic, from whose complications he passed away in 1994.
At the height of his career, he began creating ceremonial objects in papier-mâché, as if they were magical amulets, alluding to indigenous rites-of-passage imagery. In the early 1990s, during his time in Paris, Zapata contracted HIV, an event that marked the beginning of a final period of deep meditation and creation.” Instead of shrinking from his illness, the artist shaped his last great project: the Sarcophagi series, conceived as a cycle of twelve unique pieces. These are structures molded by the artist himself from within, in a performative and spiritual act: Zapata would enter the wet papier-mâché mold in his studio, alone, in silence, leaving the physical imprint of his body.
Each a different size and shape, all these pieces, which he called “doors of light,” are chrysalides of transition between life and disappearance.
Marzo 12, 2026
