A long-overlooked queer Colombian artist has become the breakout story of Art Basel Miami Beach. The work of Luis Fernando Zapata, who died in the early 1990s, is commanding intense critical and market attention, marking a significant posthumous rediscovery.
Zapata's practice, developed in Medellín, fused queer desire, Catholic imagery, and Colombian folklore into sculptures, drawings, and performances that were both intimate and theatrical. For decades, his work remained largely within academic circles while his contemporaries gained wider fame.
His resurgence, driven by scholarly archival efforts and a gallery presentation at the fair, is being hailed as a cultural reckoning. It challenges historical narratives about which artists from the Global South—particularly those exploring queer identity-are preserved by art history.
Zapata's pieces, which treat the body as a site of divinity, pleasure, and decay, resonate powerfully with contemporary dialogues on gender, sexuality, and post-colonial memory. The booth featuring his work has become a focal point at the fair, attracting both seasoned collectors and new audiences. This moment signifies more than a market correction; it represents the belated completion of a chapter in art history, affirming that marginalized artistic genius cannot be permanently
December 2, 2025
