Carlos Capelán, a citizen of the world with roots in Uruguay and art studies in Sweden, has worked, lived and exhibited his work in many countries. He once said that he wants to be a warm conceptual artist and a cold expressionist. And this is also reflected in his art which is difficult to label in more concrete terms as Capelán has a very varied oeuvre of works, to say the least. In his works, he has used quotations from different cultures, texts and signs, first in ink and later drawn in ethereal fluids such as Coca-Cola, breast milk and wine. There is a big element of teaching in his works, often of a highly academic character. Capelán was Professor at the Vestland’s Art Academy in Bergen, Norway in the years 2000 to 2006. In 2007, The Olsson Art Collection produced our largest bookproject so far when we edited and published a retrospective book about Capelán. A 420 pages impressive document of his artistry and career.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2018 Landscapes, paintings, Artflow Gallery, San José, Costa Rica, Matter no matter (10 folk tales), Gallerie Leger, Malmö, Sweden, 2017 Recent Works, Krognoshuset, Lund, Sweden, The Art of Selfportraiting, Martin Bryder Gallery, Lund, Sweden, 2016 MUSEO, Museo Histórico El Cabildo, Montevideo, Uruguay, 2015 DISLEXIAS, The Art of Painting, Galería SOA, Montevideo, Uruguay, Old Songs, 14 new paintings, Galerie Leger, Malmö, Sweden, 2014 XVIII Figari Awards, artist books and installation, Museo Figari, Montevideo, Uruguay,

Now You See It, installations and drawings, The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, in partnership with St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, 2013 Trazos 1, Kavlin Centro Cultural, Punta del Este, Uruguay, Kikiriyá, installation, Torre Ejecutiva, Montevideo, Uruguay, Trabajar Conversando, workshop and installation, Fundación Unión, Montevideo, Uruguay, 2012 Xul y los pájaros, Galería Patricia Ready, Santiago, Chile, Trazos 1, Galería SOA, Montevideo, Uruguay, This Meets That, Galerie Leger, Malmö, Sweden, 2011 BURUBÚ (Heaven is a Place) Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montevideo, Uruguay, 2010 The secret History of Biology, (la culture est un temple où des vivant piliers) or: (No hay historia sin biología), (etc), Skulpturi, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2007, New Works, SAS Institute, Stora Frösunda Castle, Stockholm, Sweden (organised by The Olsson Art Collection), 2001, Skatteparadiset – works from The Olsson Art Collection, Kulturhuset Valfisken, Simrishamn, Sweden.

Selected group exhibitions

2018 Great Masterpieces, Gary Nader Gallery, Miami, USA, Hace un tiempo vil en todos nosotros, (It is foul Wheather in Us All) curated by Riccardo Boglione, Centro Cultural de España, Montevideo, Uruguay 2017 Témpano/El problema de lo institucional, Curated by MACMO,  Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Montevideo, Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montevideo, Uruguay, Márgenes, Curated by Adriana Gallo, Museo de Historia del Arte, Montevideo, Uruguay, Åtta Mästare, Latinamerikansk Samtidskonst från The Olsson Art Collection, Landskrona konsthall, Sweden 2016 Panorama, curated by Rulfo, Subte Municipal, Montevideo, Uruguay 2015 Pequeño Gabinete de Historia Natural, curated by Marco Tortarolo, Museo Histórico El Cabildo, Montevideo, Uruguay, Latin American Contemporary Art, Gary Nader Gallery, Miami, USA 2014 Arte y Política, Curated by Jorge Soto, Museo Zorrilla de San Martín, Montevideo, Uruguay, 1997 Contemporary Latin American Art from the Ulla and Greger Olsson Art Collection, Kulturcentrum, Ronneby, Sweden.

Selected museums and private collections: Museum of Modern Art, Sweden; Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Uruguay; Museo Blanes, Uruguay; Art Museum of Gothenburg, Sweden; Konstråd, Sweden; City of Lund, Sweden; Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo, Spain; Centro Galego de Arte Contemporáneo (CGAC), Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Museo de Antropología y Arte Contemporáneo, Ecuador; Banco Central, Uruguay; Museo Figari, Uruguay; Banco Lafise Collection, Costa Rica; Fundación Teor/éTica, Costa Rica; Instituto Cervantes, Spain; The Auckland Art Gallery Toi O Tamaki, New Zealand; Casa de las Américas, Cuba; Centro Wifredo Lam, Cuba; Art School of Havana, Cuba; SAS Institute, Stora Frösunda Castle, Sweden; Carlos & Rosa de la Cruz Collection, USA; Daniel y Elita Yankelewitz Collection, Costa Rica; The Olsson Art Collection, Sweden; Peter Menéndez Collection, Miami, USA; Edgar Gunther Collection, Paris, France and New York, USA; Jaime del Hierro Collection, Ecuador; Colección David Goldbaum, Ecuador; Björn Bergentoft Collection, Sweden; Toni Chi Collection, New York-Buenos Aires; Lennart Green, Sweden.