BY SANTIAGO LONDOÑO VÉLEZ mal game but as the irremediable and difficult fruit of being a cre- ator. rough all this he demonstrates that, contrary to the illusion of perdurability, life is a “transient transformation.” F I R S T W O R K S : F I G U R A T I O N A N D A B S T R A C T I O N Amaral unveiled his work for the first time in Colombia in an individ- ual exhibition in at the gallery El Callejón in Bogotá. e offer- ing was composed of thirteen oil paintings, twelve figurative drawings, and ten drawings and eleven abstract collages (see FIGS. 14 15 ) in ink.¹ e catalog contains a text signed by “F.M.S.” (Fernando Martínez Sanabria, - ), in which the variety of artistic interests of the novel exhibitor stands out, his horses described as “infantilely figu- rative,” and which emphasizes the interrelation that exists between seemingly contradictory positions of abstraction and figuration.² In a press release announcing the opening of the show, Amaral said when asked about the coexistence of the two trends, “I lean more towards figurativism, but I believe a lot in both values. I cannot say that one is more valuable than the other, because each has its artistic bases, very solid”³. One journalist described exhibition at El Callejón thus: e collages are the product of a slow and careful work, where the the- matic —very originally— conserves unity in its structure and color; and the technique, with well-crafted materials, reflects a deep knowledge. In the drawings in ink, with great success, he keeps a balance between form and line, contrasting the latter with strong and broad strokes. All this from within the abstract field. Moreover, in the figurative an elementary, infantile painting appears. Apparently it gives the impression of having been made by a child of eight. It contrasts with the maturity of the ab- straction. However, upon analysis they reveal a character so personal that it is imprinted, surrounded by an exquisite simplicity.⁴ e painter Juan Antonio Roda ( - ) published an arti- cle in which he praised with premonitory enthusiasm the “antihors- es” and established their stylistic differences with respect to others of their kind in the history of art: e antihorses of Amaral have no place in any apotheosis. ese horse-men, drawn so as to pretend incompetence, unabashedly shame- less, are creations of solitude. ey are the impossible dialogue, a truncated communication. ey languish alone and perhaps seek to achieve through sex the exaltation that this very lack of communication makes possible.⁵ e critic Walter Engel ( - ), born in Vienna and based in Colombia between and , stressed the quality of the ab- stract paintings: . Composition № , “”•—. ŒŒ×™Œ cm, mixed media. . Composition №  , “”•—. ŒŒ×™Œ cm, mixed media.