ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the works of Eduardo Ramirez Villamizar and Guillermo Wiedemann as exemplars of the two variants of post-war abstraction in Colombia—geometric and gestural, respectively—during the late 1950s and early 1960s. It discusses in what respect abstract art, traditionally viewed as apolitical, and can be studied in relation to political contexts. The chapter explores one of the main political forces shaping the birth and consolidation of abstraction in Colombia: US President John F. Kennedy's Alliance for Progress program and the key role played by the country in it. It focuses on Villamizar and Wiedemann's artworks and explores the political implications of both within the context of Colombian-US relations and the broader conditions of modernization and the Cold War. Colombia's commitment to the ideology of modernization and the alliance's objective of erasing poverty and increasing the standards of living led to profound social changes, an increase in demographic rates, and an accelerated process of urbanization.
