Extramuros: Antología visual del arte en Colombia - Capítulo 12: Jim Amaral
Bogotá, Colombia, February 25, 2025
Produced by Señal Colombia/RTVC
Duration: 52:46
The 12-episode documentary series Extramuros, broadcast on the public television channel Señal Colombia (RTVC), is a cultural interview-based program dedicated to contemporary art and artists working in Colombia. The series focuses especially on artistic process, context, and the social role of art.
In this episode, the work of Colombian-American artist Jim Amaral—known for his drawings and bronze sculptures—is explored through a conversation in which he reflects on the role of solitude throughout his life and artistic practice.
00:02 Jim Amaral reflects on solitude during his childhood and his years at Stanford University.
02:32 Conversation with Giorgio Antei about Jim’s military service in the Philippines and the poems he wrote there.
05:47 Francisco Arévalo discusses the relationship between Jim’s work and poetry.
06:41 Jotamario Arbeláez reads from La llama doble. Encuentro con Olga y Jim Amaral (2008), written for the exhibition Meridianos at Galería La Cometa, Bogotá.
09:12 Jim speaks about his love story with Olga.
13:57 Conversation with Giorgio Antei about poetry, drawing, and Jim’s sense of being an outsider.
18:45 Francisco Arévalo discusses inspiration, contradictions, and the relationship between feelings and existence in Jim’s work.
21:03 Conversation with Salvador Arbeláez about Jim’s erotic and anatomical drawings and his early poetry.
24:17 Giorgio Antei reflects on Jim’s early sculpture in Bogotá and his multiple artistic identities.
28:37 Francisco Arévalo discusses the relationship between sculpture and poetry in Jim’s work.
34:45 Giorgio Antei considers the meanings and interpretations of Jim’s sculptural forms.
38:40 Jim discusses the role of sound in his sculptures.
40:05 Valeriano Lanchas performs O Hilando, a traditional composition from Colombia’s Pacific Coast.
42:56 Conversation about the relationship between Jim’s work and music.
45:36 Giorgio Antei reads from Dicha y desdicha de un pez fuera del agua. El arte múltiple de Jim Amaral (FMR Magazine, 2025).
46:46 Francisco Arévalo and Jim discuss his sculpture series Dead Poets (1990–1996).
47:45 Francisco Arévalo reads Jim’s poem Busto de Silva (1996).
50:07 Closing remarks by Salvador Arbeláez and Jim Amaral.
