Felipe Martínez-Villalba (Bucaramanga, 1987) combines a deep exploration of nature, the ancestral, and spatiality with a visual language that moves fluidly between installation and painting. His training in London—BA (Hons) in Fine Arts (2015) and Professional Diploma in Fine Arts (2014) from Central Saint Martins, and Diploma in Art & Design with distinction from Byam Shaw School of Art (2011)—his practice has thrived in constant transformation. From his early years, shaped by a childhood immersed in the Colombian landscape, to his current residence in Madrid, his work creates worlds where colour and memory engage in a unique dialogue.

The artist’s origins set a defining tone in his creative process, intrinsically linking him to nature, having been born, raised, and nurtured in the Colombian countryside around Bucaramanga. From this background springs a passion and need to recreate nature and conjure organic worlds through his most intimate and spontaneous sensibility. Growing up in this environment profoundly impacted him from childhood, fulfilling his instinct for an installative approach to space—a trait that shapes his artistic output.

In his earliest years, Felipe built large-scale installations in his bedroom: caves, imaginary environments inhabited by figures from his own habitat.Taking over interior spaces, his work has always hinted at a horrorvacui narrative, transitioning from installation to painting. After leaving Colombia and during his time in London, he developed a powerful longing for home, refuge, and connection to nature—a longing absent in his native environment, yet acutely felt in its absence.

His ongoing fascination for a direct connection with nature led to an exploration of identity, prompting a scenic dialogue between space and its inhabitants. He asked himself: what characters dwell in those spaces?

At this point, his process began to shift from spatial work to painting. “Space comes naturally to me; painting is a greater challenge,” the artist explains. The linear connector throughout his practice—from installation to painting—is color. Felipe shapes with colour and aims to let it resonate in its purest form. His palette is defined by complementary pairings—yellows and purples, greens and reds, blues and oranges—which recur throughout both his installations and pictorial work. Colour is the vibrant, transversal heartbeat of Martínez-Villalba’s evolution and journey.

His artistic practice has continued evolving during his residence in Spain, where painting has become his main interest and practice. While in Madrid, a revelation radically shifted his relationship with his work: a family member shared a story silenced for generations—a collective Indigenous suicide among his ancestors, possibly driven by social judgement. This buried history gave radical new meaning to Viscontino. No longer were they enigmatic presences, but pictorial portals to ancestral memory and a fractured, unspoken truth that found a path through the artist to be expressed, recognized, and healed. This understanding had initiated a process of self-exploration and communication with his ancestors and roots; through this revelation, Martínez-Villalba began an intensive investigation into his origins—a pursuit that continues to occupy him to this day.
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Solo Show
CHROMATIST. Plus Artist Gallery. Madrid, Spain. 2024
CIUDADES INVISIBLES. Fundación SEPTUM. Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia. 2011

‍Group Exhibitions
ELEMENTAL ORIGINS. BOA LAB. Lisbon, Portugal. 2019
PLASTIC. Loosenart Gallery. Rome, Italy. 2017
WE LIKE YOU. The Rag Factory. London, United Kingdom. 2015
The Big Space II. Central Saint Martins UAL. London, United Kingdom. 2014
The Big Space I. Central Saint Martins UAL. London, United Kingdom. 2013
ENTRE CIUDADES. Fundación SEPTUM. Bucaramanga, Pereira, Manizales, Bogotá, Colombia. 2012
COLECTIVO CIUDADES. Fundación SEPTUM. Bucaramanga, Santander, Bogotá, Colombia. 2011

‍Commissions
OBRAS CON AMOR. Fundación FANA. Bogotá, Colombia. 2018
EL ORIGEN. Fundación Totem. Bucaramanga, Colombia. 2017
WHAT COLOR IS THE SEA. Fourth Wall Creations. London, United Kingdom. 2014
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‍Participation in Charity Auctions
OBRAS CON AMOR. Charitable Private Auction. Fundación FANA. Bogotá, Colombia. 2018
Charitable Private Auction. Metropolitan Club. Bogotá, Colombia. 2018
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‍Mention
EL PAÍS SEMANAL. Placeres Decoración. 2023
‍InterviewsEnredarte Magazine. “FELIPE MARTÍNEZ-VILLALBA: The Curious Painter and Community Artist.” Spain. 2022BOA LAB Gallery. “FELIPE MARTÍNEZ-VILLALBA. STUDIO SESSION.” Lisbon, Portugal. 2020
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