Gijón, 1971

Nuria Formentí


Nuria Formenti was born in Gijón and lived in Colombia between the ages of nine to nineteen. From a very young age she has lived surrounded by great artists and writers who, like a magnet, tried to drag the artist towards the search for beauty and life through visual arts. These influences gave her the necessary tools to be able to drive herself into a magical world. From a very young age, she gave free rein to her hand, using the pen as an aid to capture her theoretical outbursts. Far from her consciousness she continued to write, only reviewing the content once she had finished. She did not recognize this work as her own, rather that of the demiurge.


Nuria did higher studies in Public Relations and Protocol outside of Colombia. Her creative needs prevented her from continuing her professional career, betting instead on what she really felt and still feels, returning to what she considers her home. In 1999 and from the hands of her master “of ceremonies”, Antonio Obregón, Nuria bought a canvas and oils and began to paint looking for the aesthetic harmony that will pursue her throughout her art. Eduardo Úrculo, Frida Kahlo, Gabriel García Márquez and Enrique Grau are present in each of the paintings of the artist in all their languages. It was precisely that year when the artist began her artistic career without any restraint. Fuerteventura, Cartagena de Indias, Barranquilla, Oviedo, Gijón or Geneva will be obligatory destinations in which the artist exhibits her work.

Loaded with meaning, in the work of Formentí, painting and writing merged to express their passions and emotions until exposing their soul. What she loves, thinks, says or dreams is present in each of her canvases showing it as a kind of ode to beauty and the nature that surrounds her or that she imagines. Although both she and her works convey sensitivity and feeling in the eyes of the beholder, they are also charged with an implicit critical and social content that vindicates her experiences. And, as it could not be otherwise, her work could be described as a personal magical realism where several elements stand out: the cinematographic compositions, the bright colors, the contrasts of light and shadows and some qualities almost palpable in their forms.

Alberto Cortez wished that Nuria’s brushes were the wings that allowed her to fly. This has been present in each of her exhibitions. This way the artist flew through the Caribbean, visited scenes and literary stages, claimed the strength of women, illuminated gray skies and finally released their chains, all without stopping the search. In a sincere tribute to the paper, the inks, to the sex and the women, she overcame the taboo and, without fear, went on her own path and began to enjoy life.

María M. Vallina