BIOGRAPHY
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1966, Antonio José Briceño Linares is a professional photographer and has been a passionate activist in environmental issues, as well as in ethnic minorities and human rights. He has a graduate degree in Biology from the Central University of Venezuela (Caracas, 1993) and a Master’s degree in Digital Arts from the Pompeu Fabra Univiersty (Barcelona, 2015). His works have been exhibited worldwide in more than 70 collective and 40 solo shows.
Briceño’s passion for photography began when he was a teenager and he first exhibited his work in 1987. Between 1996 and 2002, he carried out several solo exhibitions, relating to the following topics: Veils and Turbans (1996, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi); Passengers (First Prize in the Luis Felipe Toro Prize and which was exhibited in Caracas' Museum of Fine Arts in 1997); Devotion (Galería Los Talleres, Mexico in 1998; Casa de las Américas, Havana, 1999; Maison Internationale, Brussels in 2000); Guadalupanos (Ateneo de Caracas, 1999); and The Shamans (Galerie Adriana Schmidt, Stuttgart, 2002).
Between 2000 and 2024, he has worked on the project entitled Gods of America: Natural Pantheon, in which he used digital photomontage (carried out during long-term periods of field research), creating a pantheon of different deities and mythological beings from different indigenous cultures across the Americas. This project covered fourteen cultures from eight different countries: Huichol (Mexico), Curripaco, Kogui and Wiwa (Colombia), Cofán (Ecuador), Guna (Panama), Quero (Peru), Kayapó (Brazil), Maya (Guatemala) and Wayuu, Piaroa, Ye´Kuana, Pemón and Pumé (Venezuela). He received several grants that allowed him to carry out the project, including grants from the Programa de Intercambio de Residencias Artísticas (Grupo de los Tres G3), the Estancia para Creación Artística Grant (Government of Mexico) and the Apoyo a Artistas Grant, (Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico). Gods of America represented Venezuela at the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007) and have been exhibited, in either solo or group shows, in Finland, France, Hungary, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, New Zealand and Venezuela. The artist received the Green Leaf Award for Artistic Excellence 2008, awarded by the Natural World Museum and the United Nations Environment Program for this compelling series, in addition to various other prizes and highly commented awards in his home country, Venezuela.
In 2008, Briceño carried out a project entitled The Tree, in which he photographed the New Zealand Maori's worship of forefathers. Afterwards, in 2009, the Colombian Ministry of Culture invited him to create a series about the current situation of indigenous groups in their country, which resulted in the exhibit Look at us. Here we are in Bogotá and other cities around Colombia. The same year he was invited by the Government of Finland and the Sámi Parliament to carry out the project 520 Reindeer. A homage to Sàmi language, which depicts the richness and importance of the languages of the Sámi, who are the last surviving indigenous people in Western Europe. This series has been exhibited in Venezuela and in Finland, and one of its main pieces was presented at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York during the Indigenous Peoples and Food Sovereignty exhibition. Now, the complete series belongs to the Sámi people SIIDA Museum in Inari, Finland.
In 2010, the institution Art Works for Change and the United Nations Environment Program invited him to carry out an artistic project on biodiversity in Rwanda, which he entitled Millions of pieces. One Puzzle. This series was presented during on the occasion of the World Environment Day celebrations of 2010, and it was exhibited at the Field Museum in Chicago. Two years later, in 2012, the artist presented The Weepers. Our last tears (hired female mourners), a series consecrated to the repression of emotions, so characteristic of our contemporary culture, produced entirely in Northern Peru. That same year, he received the 2011 International Association of Art Critics Award for his outstanding career and commitment to the expression of a poetics of respect for the planet, its inhabitants and its cultures.
In 2014, Briceño presented the series Omertà on Oil. The era of Silence, a video installation consisting on several video-portraits of victims of torture and other forms of disproportionate use of force by the military and paramilitary groups controlled by the Venezuelan government, during the civil protest and demonstrations that took place on February and March of that same year.
In 2016 he presented The Skin of Mars, a series that focused precisely on the violence of war and the scars we bear as species and as individuals through the overlapping of images of planet Mars taken by NASA and pictures of as many sculptures of the homonymous god that rest in the collections of art museums around the world.
Since September 2018, after getting his DNA analysis results, he started his project I am we, regarding human diversity and migrations since the beginning of his African origin, a statement against racism and xenophobia. One of the videos from this series was presented at La Trayectoria Inédita in Caracas (2021), and with another one Briceño represents Venezuela at the Third Latin American Art Triennial in New York in 2022.
In 2020 he developed the series The Miners. The Golden Guaire, in which he relates the mythical city of El Dorado to the current economic situation in Venezuela, a country whose currency and economy have been so devalued that it has the lowest minimum wage (one dollar a month) in contemporary history. This has led many young men to enter the sewage sewer that runs through the city in search of small gold objects with which to try to support their families.
After the outbreak of Covid-19, Briceño, being confined to his house, developed in his own garden the Tarot of the Quarantined Garden, a series of 40 cards in which he relates different species of plants with the Major Arcana of the Tarot of Marseilles, while proposing other arcana that he called Auxiliaries. It has been shown at the Pingyao International Photography Festival 2021, in China.
Also, in 2020 he began the project Dichotomies, in which, through photographic diptychs of plants in a tropical forest, he constructs metaphors that relate to our language and way of seeing the world.
At the beginning of 2021 he began the video series The Crossing, an exhibition that aims to generate empathy with the thousands of victims of forced migration who try to flee across the sea and whose lives often end in this attempt.
Between 2020 and 2022, from the isolation to which the Covid-19 quarantine subjected us, he developed in the forests surrounding his native Caracas, The Healer Jungle, a series that portrays, through a dreamlike and symbolic aesthetic, the projections that, as humans, we pour onto the forest, with the potential to heal our body and soul. It was exhibited at Hacienda La Trinidad Parque Cultural.
In 2023 he worked with the Cofan sages from Colombia and Ecuador on the importance of the Yagé (Ayahuasca) culture and the transcendence of the shamans and their real and mythological environment. The series was exhibited at the Afro-Asiatisches Institut in Graz, under the title The Elders. Custodians of Cofan wisdom.
His works have been published in more than 10 books worldwide and has printed 6 photobooks from the beginning of his career. His works are present in several particular and public collections all around the world.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
-Cosmogonics. Visions of the Origin. Residence of the Swiss Embassy. Caracas, Venezuela.
-Gods of the Americas. Piso3. CAFE Collection. Caracas, Venezuela.
2023
- The Elders. Custodians of the Cofan wisdom. Afro-Asiatisches Institut, Graz Austria.
- Gods of the Americas. World Wellbeing Summit. Universidad de la Salle, Bogotá, Colombia.
- The Healer Jungle. Hacienda La Trinidad Parque Cultural, Caracas,Venezuela.
2021
- Tarot of the Quarantined Garden. Pingyao International Photography Festival, China.
- The crossing. When pain is deeper than ocean. Hacienda la Trinidad Parque Cultural, Caracas, Venezuela.
- The crossing. When pain is deeper than ocean. Pabellón de las Bellas Artes. Universidad Católica Argentina. Buenos Aires, Argentina
2018
- Déus d´Amèrica. Il Mondo Galería Fotográfica, Barcelona, Spain.
2017
- The skin of Mars. Photo Edition Berlin, Germany.
- The skin of Mars. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela.
2016
- The skin of Mars. Galería D´Museo, Caracas, Venezuela.
2015
- Götter Amerikas. Photo Edition Berlin, Germany.
- 520 Bhocco. Siida Museum, Inari, Finland.
2014
- Omertà petrolera. La era del silencio. Galería D´Museo, Caracas, Venezuela.
2013
- Gods of America. Helinä Rautavaaran Museo, Espoo, Finland.
2012
- The weepers. Our last tears. Galeria D´Museo, Caracas, Venezuela.
2011
- 520 reindeer. BOD-Corpbanca Centro Cultural, Caracas, Venezuela.
2010
- Gods of America. Siida Museum, Inari, Finland.
- Gods of America. Front Museum, Hanko, Finland.
- Míranos. Estamos aquí. Bolívar Square / Park of the 93 / Botanical Garden, Bogota, Colombia.
- Millions of pieces. One puzzle. Art Works for Change / United Nations Environment Program, Kigaly, Rwanda.
2009
- Dioses de América. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Caracas, Venezuela / Centro de Arte de Maracaibo Lía Bermúdez, Maracaibo, Venezuela.
- Los Doce de Oro. Zodíaco neotropical. Galería D´Museo, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Bemp. Un ceremonial Kayapó. Instituto Cultural Brasil-Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela
2008
- Gods of America. Galeria White, Budapest, Hungary.
- Gods of America. Edsvik Konsthall, Stockholm International Art Fair, Sweden.
- Gods of America. Kulturens Hus, Luleå, Sweden.
- Götter der amerikanischen tropen. Eine zeitgenössische vision. Ibero- Amerikanisches Institut, Berlín, Germany.
2007
- Gods of the Americas. 52 Venice Biennial, Venezuelan Pavillion, Venice, Italy.
- Gods of America. Salisbury Arts Centre. Salisbury International Arts Festival, Salisbury, England.
- Gods of America. Bolivar Hall, London, England.
- Amazonas. Corazón del mundo. Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos Rómulo Gallegos, Caracas, Venezuela.
2006
- Dioses de América. Panteón natural. Museo de Arte Moderno Jesús Soto, Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela.
2005
- Dueños de América. Galería D´Museo, Caracas, Venezuela.
2004
- Señores Naturales. Ecomuseo del Caroní, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela.
- Señores Naturales. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Los Chamanes. Project Room, Art Miami 2004, Miami, USA.
2002
- Los Chamanes. Galeria Adriana Schmidt, Stuttgart, Alemania
2001
- Guyana: Los vecinos. Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos Rómulo Gallegos, Caracas, Venezuela.
2000
- Devoción. Maison Internationale, Bruselas, Belgium.
1999
- Artes y Oficios. Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Guadalupanos. Sala La Fotografía, Ateneo de Caracas, Venezuela.
1998
- Devoción. Fotoseptiembre Internacional 98. Sala Armando Reverón, Mexico, D.F., Mexico.
- Devoción. Fotoseptiembre Internacional 98. Galería Los Talleres, Mexico D.F, Mexico.
- Artes y Oficios. Universidad de los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela.
1996
- Artes y Oficios. Ateneo de Caracas, Venezuela.
- Veils and Turbans. A Homage to India. Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India.
1995
- Mezquitas y Otras Joyas Islámicas. Sheikh Ibrahim Mosque, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Bazares. Alianza Francesa, Caracas, Venezuela.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
- Interludio. Gabriela Benaim Gallery. Caracas, Venezuela.
2023
- Visual line. Contemporary photography. Reset Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Corporeals. Fragments of photography. Chacao Cultural Center, Caracas, Venezuela.
2022
-Third Latin American Art Triennial. The Clemente, New York, USA.
-Wishpers. Citizen practices during pandemic. Bienalsur. Pabellón de las Bellas Artes, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina, Buenos Aires.
2021
- The unprecedented trajectory. Hacienda la Trinidad Parque Cultural, Caracas, Venezuela.
2020
- Virtual Dimensions. Factotum, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Waiting Times. Galeria Gabriela Benaim, Caracas, Venezuela.
2019
- I International Biennale of Amazonian Art. Pucallpa, Perú.
- Vanishing points. Centro Cultural Español, Miami USA.
2018
- Black star. Edsvik Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Ethics, excess, extinction. El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, United States.
- Caracas reset. La Colonie, Paris, France.
2017
- Venezuela in chaos. Noorderlicht, Groningen, The Netherlands.
- Ibicenco II. Centro Cultural De Jesús, Ibiza, Spain.
- En el país de las Amazonas. 150 años de fotografía. British Cultural Center, Lima, Peru.
- Rèsistance. TOBE Gallery, Budapest, Hungary.
2016
- Footing the Bill: Art and our Ecological Footprint. El Paso, United States
2015
- Ecología desde el arte digital. Centro Cultural BOD, Caracas, Venezuela.
2014
- FITE. Musée Bargoin, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
2013
- Fotográfica Bogotá. Centro de Industriales de Chapinero, Bogota, Colombia.
- Méridafoto. Galería La Otra Banda, Mérida, Venezuela.
- Editorial III. El Anexo. Arte Contemporáneo, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Inner & Outer Space - our Universe expands. Oskar Klein-centrum / Edsvik Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Las Plañideras. Galería La Otra Banda / MÉRIDAFOTO, Mérida, Venezuela.
2012
- Nature´s toolbox. Field Museum, Chicago, USA.
- Indigenous Peoples and Food Sovereignty. United Nations, New York, USA.
2011
- Save the forest. Save the culture. Gabarrón Foundation / Times Square, New York, USA.
2009
- Peuples Autochtones des Amériques. Musee des confluences, Lyon France.
2008
- Moving towards a Balanced Earth. Te Papa Museum, Wellington, New Zealand.
- Från Santiago de Compostela till Medina. Edsvik Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Una mirada al mundo. Pamplona, España.
2007
- Getxophoto. Getxo, Spain.
- Arteaméricas. The Latin America Art Fair. Miami, USA.
- XVI Feria Iberoamericana de Arte. Caracas, Venezuela.
- El dorado. Del mito a la realidad. Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela
- Nuevas adquisiciones. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Caracas, Venezuela.
2006
- Visiones cruzadas: entre Juyá y Pulowi. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Primera Bienal del Agua. Ciudad Bolívar-Caracas, Venezuela.
- XV Feria Iberoamericana de Arte. Caracas, Venezuela.
- III Bienal de Fotografía Daniela Chappard. Centro de Arte La Estancia, Caracas, Venezuela.
- I Bienal Internacional de Fotografía. Museo Alejandro Otero, Caracas, Venezuela
- 60 Salón de Artes Visuales Arturo Michelena. Ateneo de Valencia, Venezuela.
2005
- Hombre y sociedad. III Salón ExxonMobil. Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Primera Bienal de Arte al Aire Libre. Plaza de los Museos, Caracas, Venezuela.
- III Bienal de Fotografía Daniela Chappard. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del Zulia, Venezuela
- Concurso de Fotografía Latinoamericana Josune Dorronsoro. Museo de Bellas Artes,
Caracas, Venezuela.
- Dual. Cruces y tránsitos por la historia del arte. Centre D´Art La Panera, Lerida, Spain.
- IV Salón Iberoamericano de Fotografía. Centro Cultural Chacao, Caracas, Venezuela.
- XIV Feria Iberoamericana de Arte. Caracas, Venezuela.
- Arteaméricas. The Latin America Art Fair. Miami, USA.
2004
- Barro de América. V edición. Centro de Arte de Maracaibo Lía Bermúdez, Maracaibo, Venezuela.
2003
- 61 Salón de Artes Visuales Arturo Michelena. Ateneo de Valencia, Venezuela.
- Gran retrospectiva del arte venezolano siglo XX. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Caracas, Venezuela.
- XXVII Salón Nacional de Arte Aragua. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Maracay Mario Abreu, Venezuela.
- Galería Alternativa, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Venezuela, Naturaleza Abierta. II Salón ExxonMobil. Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Muestra 2. Feria de Arte Contemporáneo. Mexico, D.F., Mexico.
2002
- Gráfica en la Calle. Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela.
- 60 Salón de Artes Visuales Arturo Michelena. Ateneo de Valencia, Venezuela.
- XXVI Salón Nacional de Arte Aragua. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Maracay Mario Abreu, Venezuela.
- III Salón Iberoamericano de Fotografía. Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela.
- IX Feria Iberoamericana de Arte. Caracas, Venezuela.
- ARCO. Madrid, Spain.
2001
- V Salón Pirelli de Jóvenes Artistas. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Caracas, Venezuela.
- IX Feria Iberoamericana de Arte. Caracas, Venezuela.
2000
- LVIII Salón de Artes Visuales Arturo Michelena. Ateneo de Valencia, Venezuela.
- Festival de la Luz Clarines 2000. Clarines, Venezuela.
- VIII Feria Iberoamericana de Arte. Caracas, Venezuela.
- XXIV Salón Nacional de Arte Aragua. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Maracay Mario Abreu, Venezuela.
1999
- Fin de Mundo. Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela.
- I Salón Pepsi de Jóvenes Artistas. Museo del Diseño y la Estampa Carlos Cruz-Diez, Caracas, Venezuela.
- VI Bienal de Artes Visuales Christian Dior. Centro Cultural Corp Banca, Caracas, Venezuela.
- IV Salón Pirelli de Jóvenes Artistas. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Jóvenes con la FIA. Feria Iberoamericana de Arte. Ateneo de Caracas, Venezuela.
- Nuevas Adquisiciones. Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela.
1998
- VII Premio de Ensayo Fotográfico Casa de Las Américas. Casa de Las Américas, La Habana, Cuba.
- II Bienal Nacional del Paisaje. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Maracay Mario Abreu, Venezuela.
- XXIII Salón Nacional de Arte Aragua. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Maracay Mario Abreu, Venezuela.
- El Hecho Fotográfico en Venezuela. Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela.
1997
- IV Bienal de Artes Plásticas de Mérida. Museo de Arte Moderno Juan Astorga Anta, Mérida, Venezuela.
- III Salón Pirelli de Jóvenes Artistas. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Viajeros y Transeúntes. XVI Premio de Fotografía Luis Felipe Toro. Museo de Bellas Artes, Venezuela.
- Scenes. VAAUW Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela.
- XXII Salón Nacional de Arte Aragua. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Maracay Mario Abreu, Venezuela.
1996
- V Convención Nacional de Fotografía. Asociación Venezolana de la Comunidad Fotográfica.
1995
- Caracas Retratada. Museo Jacobo Borges, Caracas, Venezuela.
- LIII Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales Arturo Michelena. Ateneo de Valencia, Venezuela.
1994
- Plural II. Alianza Francesa, Caracas, Venezuela.
1991
- III Salón de la Joven Fotografía. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Caracas, Venezuela.
1988
- II Salón de la Joven Fotografía. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Caracas, Venezuela.
1987
- Primer Concurso de Fotografía Luis Razetti. Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
AWARDS
2014
- Talent Grant. Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona Spain.
2012
- 2011 Acclaimed Artist. International Association of Art Critics, Chapter Venezuela.
2008
- 2008 Green Leaf Award for artistic excellence. The Natural World Museum (NWM) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Wellington, New Zealand.
2007
- Representative from Venezuela at the 52 Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy.
2006
- Goethe-Institut Venezuelan Photo-Award 2006. Professional Category Prize, Goethe-Institut, Caracas.
- I International Biennial of Photography. Fourth Place. Museo Alejandro Otero, Caracas, Venezuela.
2005
- III Biennial of Phtography Daniela Chappard. Honorific Mention. Museo de Arte
Contemporáneo de Zulia, Venezuela
2004
- Latin American Photography Award Josune Dorronsoro. Honorific Mention. Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela.
2003
- Venezuela, Open Nature. II Salón ExxonMobil, Honorific Mention. Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas.
2002
- Program of Artists Residences Exchange. Project The Kogui, G3 (Mexico-Colombia-
Venezuela).
2001
- Residence Grant for Artistic Creation. Project The Huichol, Gobierno de Mexico.
- Grants for Artists. Centro Multimedia, Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico, D.F., Mexico.
1999
- I Salón Pepsi de Jóvenes Artistas, Second Place. Museo Carlos Cruz-Diez, Caracas.
Venezuela.
1996
- XVI Award of Photography Luis Felipe Toro, First Place. Consejo Nacional de la Cultura, Venezuela.
- V Photography Award, Third Place. Asociación Venezolana de la Comunidad Fotográfica, Venezuela.
1987
- Luis Razetti I Prize of Photography, Black and White Award. Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas.
BOOKS
- Los originarios contemporáneos: una mirada fotográfica.
Colección C&FE , 2019, Caracas, Venezuela
- Las plañideras. Nuestras últimas lágrimas. Antonio Briceño.
Galería D´Museo, 2013, Caracas, Venezuela
- 520 renos. Homenaje a la lengua Sámi. Antonio Briceño.
Centro Cultural BOD-Corp Banca,Caracas, Venezuela.
- Dioses de América. Panteón natural. Antonio Briceño.
Orinoco y Amazonas Editores, 2007,Caracas, Venezuela.
- La procesión va por dentro. Antonio Briceño.
FUNDACENAFV, 2006, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Diablos de Chuao. Tres continentes y una tradición. Antonio Briceño.
Editorial Intenso, 2004, Caracas, Venezuela
- Señores Naturales. Fotografías de Antonio Briceño.
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber, 2004, Caracas, Venezuela.
- Fotografía Latinoamericana 1992-2002.
Lunwerg, 2003, Barcelona, España.
- Fotociudad, estética urbana y lenguaje fotográfico.
CANTV, 2003, Caracas, Venezuela
- Tierra Negra.
ExxonMobil, 2002, Caracas, Venezuela.