Estate of Feliciano Centurión Paraguayan, 1962-1996
Feliciano Centurión was born in San Ignacio, in the southern region of Paraguay. He was raised by his mother and grandmother in an ultra-conservative and catholic society, and the family were exiled to Argentina in 1973 under the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner. His work employs embroidery and textile, crafts traditionally practiced by women and which are central to Paraguayan culture since the Triple Alliance War, when the country lost ninety percent of its male population. Centurión moved to Buenos Aires in 1980 to study at the national art schools. In the 1990s, he became a core member of the Arte Light movement, centred around the Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas (El Rojas). Centurión exhibited several times at El Rojas, in many ways exemplifying the aesthetic choices of that generation of artists, whose explorations of subjectivity incorporated a kitsch and exuberant, almost Baroque style.
After being diagnosed with HIV, Centurión worked in increasingly small and intricate formats. He embroidered animals and mythical beings, in keeping with Paraguay's Guaraní weaving traditions, and used his own text, too, often in reference to his ill-health. In common with Félix González-Torres, ACT UP, José Leonilson, and General Idea, the use of sentiment and traditionally feminine visual languages puts Centurion at the centre of this generation of artists who began to explore gender and sexuality in the 1990s. Although his career was tragically short, he remains a central but little-recognized figure of recent contemporary art history.
Centurión's work has been celebrated in a number of recent solo exhibitions, including Telas y Textos at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts, US (2023), Feliciano Centurión: Abrigo, Americas Society, New York, US (2020) and Feliciano Centurión: I am Awake, Cecilia Brunson Projects, London, UK (2019). He was also exhibited at the 13th Shanghai Biennale, Bodies of Water in 2021, and the 33rd Bienal de São Paulo, Affective Affinities (2018), and has been included in important recent group exhibitions including Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art, Barbican, London (2024) and Theme: AIDS (1993), Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Oslo, 2022. Cecilia Brunson Projects represents the artist's estate and works closely with Feliciano's family.
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Hecho a Mano
Group exhibition 22 Feb - 22 Mar 2024Bringing together both Latin American artists from the Modernist period as well as artists working in the present day, Hecho a Mano is a contemporary response to the tradition of...Read more -
Feliciano Centurión
I Am Awake (1992 – 1996) 19 Sep - 13 Dec 2019Cecilia Brunson Projects is pleased to announce 'I am Awake', the first London exhibition of the celebrated Paraguayan artist Feliciano Centurión.Read more
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33ª Bienal de São Paulo
Catalogue of the exhibition 2018 Read more -
Feliciano Centurión
Artist Monograph Americas Society, New York, 2020HardbackRead more -
Feliciano Centurión
Abrigo Americas Society, New York, 2020Softback, Exhibition CatalogueRead more -
Recovering Beauty: The 1990s in Buenos Aires
Catalogue of the exhibition 2011 Read more
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Unravel review – a gorgeously excessive tangled knot of a show, full of blood, pain and pleasure
Adrian Searle, Guardian, February 14, 2024 -
The Exuberant Softness of Feliciano Centurión’s Textiles
Cassie Packard, Hyperallergic, October 23, 2020 -
Feliciano Centurión: Americas Society
Art Forum, October 1, 2020 -
Feliciano Centurión: Abrigo
The Brooklyn Rail, May 1, 2020 -
2 Art Gallery Shows to Explore From Home
Martha Schwendener, The New York Times, April 15, 2020 -
Feliciano Centurion
Johanna Fateman, The New Yorker, February 23, 2020 -
Feliciano Centurión’s Textiles Enact New Pleasures
Rebecca Jagoe , Frieze , January 15, 2020 -
Three exhibitions to see in London this weekend
Kabir Jhala and José da Silva, The Art Newspaper, November 29, 2019 -
The Most Influential Latin American Artists of the 20th Century
Alex Santana, Artsy , November 18, 2019 -
Interview | Cecilia Brunson Projects Founder on I Am Awake by Feliciano Centurión
Eric Block, The London Magazine, November 12, 2019 -
Review: Feliciano Centurión, I am Awake: 1992 - 1996
Rachel Leonard, Gold Circle, November 10, 2019 -
La Gracia de Vivir por Siempre
Marycruz Najle, La Nación, October 28, 2019 -
The Top 7 Art Exhibitions to see in London in October
FAD Magazine , October 14, 2019 -
Life lines: textile works by the late Feliciano Centurión
Melanie Gerlis , Financial Times, November 30, 2018 -
The powerful legacy of Feliciano Centurión
Celina Chatruc, La Nacion , October 21, 2018 -
São Paulo Biennial pays tribute to Paraguayan work
Ultima Hora , September 10, 2018
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Unravel, Stedelijk Museum
Feliciano Centurión featured in major group exhibition of textile art September 14, 2024Feliciano Centurión is featured in Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art, opening at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam on 14 September. The exhibition...Read more -
Museum Exhibition
Feliciano Centurión in 'Unravel' at the Barbican February 13, 2024Works by Feliciano Centurión will be featured in the exhibition 'Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art,' co-curated by the Barbican, London and...Read more -
Museum Exhibition
Feliciano Centurión, 'Telas y Textos' at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts February 9, 2023The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, presents Feliciano Centurión’s third solo exhibition in the United States. Curated by Diana Cao, Tatiana Marcel, and...Read more -
Art Fair
The Armory Show, 2022 September 9, 2022We are delighted to announce the our participation in The Armory Show in New York with the works of Feliciano Centurión and Katie van Scherpenberg...Read more -
Museum Exhibition
Feliciano Centurión at MALBA June 8, 2022Aó: Textile Episodes in the Visual Arts in Paraguay We're pleased to announce that Feliciano Centurión has been included in this new group exhibition at...Read more -
Exhibition
Feliciano Centurión at Galeria Millan March 12, 2022Feliciano Centurión’s first solo exhibition in Brazil opened on 12th March at Galeria Millan in São Paulo. Entitled Everyday Beauty, the show intended to demonstrate...Read more -
Museum Exhibition
Feliciano Centurión at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter January 13, 2022Multiple works by Feliciano Centurión will be included in a forthcoming museum exhibition at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in Norway: Every Moment Counts - AIDS...Read more -
Art Fair
Frieze Masters 2021 October 13, 2021Cecilia Brunson Projects and Galeria Millan, official representatives of the Estate of Feliciano Centurión, are delighted to present a selection of Feliciano Centurión's masterpieces for...Read more -
Biennale
Feliciano Centurion at the 13th Shanghai Biennale May 6, 2021Feliciano Centurión participates in the 13th Shanghai Biennial, 'Bodies of Water'. Curated by Andrés Jaque, the Bienal will have as its theme the defense of...Read more -
Museum Exhibition
Feliciano Centurión: Abrigo at the Americas Society, New York January 20, 2020Cecilia Brunson Projects is delighted to announce that the Americas Society, New York is having the first solo exhibition of Paraguayan artist Feliciano Centurión in...Read more -
Exhibition
Feliciano Centurión in Words/Matter: Latin American Art and Language at the Blanton Museum, Texas February 17, 2019Cecilia Brunson Projects is proud to announce Feliciano Centurión's participation in Words/Matter: Latin American Art and Language from February 17th to May 26th, 2019 at...Read more -
Biennial
33rd Biennial of São Paulo, Brazil (Fundação Bienal de São Paulo) September 11, 2018Cecilia Brunson Projects is delighted to announce the participation of Alejandro Corujeira, Claudia Fontes and Feliciano Centurión in the 33rd São Paulo Biennial taking place...Read more -
Estate Representation
Feliciano Centurión May 31, 2018Cecilia Brunson Projects is pleased to announce the representation of Feliciano Centurión. The artist was highlighted in the 33rd Biennial of São Paulo, Brazil, under...Read more