Unavoidably, Colombian printmaking established an alliance with cultural events closely related to political movements and the social protest, reaffirming the bent of many artists to do numbered prints with the aim of making their slogans popular. The new problems that afflicted Colombia (violence, poverty, and inequality, among others) did not go unnoticed by the new generations of artists that began to be firmly established, while their works became the bearers of a language in line with the new urban trends that arrived with the big city boom.
Important events focused exclusively on the promotion of the graphic arts were held, especially in Cali; the Graphic Arts Biennials organized by the La Tertulia Museum of Modern Art in Cali between 1971 and 1986 were particularly relevant; at the same time, the company Smurfit Carton Colombia made an open call to Colombian artists to participate in the AGPA portfolios —Artes Gráficas Panamericanas— which, with a few interruptions, published 23 portfolios between 1972 and 1997. The artists from Antioquia who took part in these portfolios were: Aníbal Gil (1972), Juan Camilo Uribe (1975), Oscar Jaramillo, Javier Restrepo and Hugo Zapata (1977). On the other hand, the Salon of Colombian Artists held in 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976 and 1979 also featured print works by artists from Antioquia.
The new urban dynamic encouraged a change in the topics and interests of the artists of Antioquia, moving away from the bucolic and pastoral spirit that inspired so many images in the history of the local painting; in this new scenario, an interest in the city and the challenges that the transition between the rural and the urban experiences emerged: the fast-paced streets, the so-called “underworld” that inhabits the night, the bars, the mass idols, and the TV stars.
The consolidation of these artists’ interest in printmaking concurred with the Coltejer Biennials, the opening of the Medellin Museum of Modern Art, the relaunching of the Regional Art Salons, the creation of the National University Art Program and its corresponding Printmaking Workshop led by Hugo Zapata, the involvement of artist Francisco Valderrama in the Printmaking Workshop of the Institute of Fine Arts of the University of Antioquia, and the interest expressed by the Zea Museum to promote and support the teaching and dissemination of printmaking through workshops and exhibitions.
Finally, the Taller de Artes de Medellín offered printmaking courses between 1977 and 1980 under the coordination of Ángela Restrepo and Yomaira Posada, the workshop also invited artists, during different seasons, like Augusto Rendón, Umberto Giangrandi, Juan Antonio Roda and Leonel Góngora on a seasonal basis. In 1978, Hugo Zapata founded Serial Art: Medellin Experimental Workshop Studio. The interest in spreading the knowledge on the printmaking techniques consolidated a new way of thinking, promoted reflections on art and enhanced the higher education of the artists, bringing national and international visibility to this region.
