Juan Fernando Herrán’s work does not begin with an imagined space or an invented reality. Rather, the existing world is always his point of departure. His photographic series of provisional crosses he found in the woods outside of Bogota speak to the silent and anonymous nature many people need to express loss, while his photos and sculptures of staircases represent communities on the outskirts of Medellin, who remain separated both economically and socially. In each body of work, Herrán documents. However, one would be hard pressed to label his work "documentary." Perhaps it is the wry and acute ways in which Herrán focuses his camera, or restages each "document" in different materials and contexts. Through each transformation, the origin of each situation is not lost, but filtered through his rigorous research, producing deep and new ways to reflect on very complicated political, economic and social circumstances.

Juan Fernando Herrán was born in 1963 and studied at Universidad de Los Andes before graduating with his M.F.A. from Chelsea College of Art in London. His work has been exhibited throughout South America and Europe. Currently, he is a professor of art at Universidad de Los Andes, where he has also served as the Department Chair.

Artist and writer Micah Malone interviews Juan Fernando in Bogotá in 2012.