Schwarzer Magischer Realismus - CARLOS CARIMA

In the organizer's words:

We are pleased to introduce Carlos Carima, whose works will be on display at DOXSDOKS from May 09, 2025 in"Black Magical Realism".

Vernissage: Friday, 09.05.25 19h // Further opening hours: 10.05.25 18-22h, 11.05.25 18-21h

The first solo exhibition in Cologne by Carlos Carima presented by DOXSDOKS

Carlos Carima shows new and existing paintings from his collection.

Carlos Carima is an Angolan-born painter who works in Cologne. As a painting graduate with distinction from the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Essen, he took part in the Art Toll residency in Bedburg-Hau in 2023. In his solo performance "Spirituality and Quietness" at Schauspielhaus Dortmund (2023), he dealt with memory bodies and collective healing.

As an initiator and participant in various group exhibitions and member of a black writing collective, Carima combines painting, writing and performance art. He uses these disciplines as a channel for the artistic processing and exploration of cultural identity, interpersonal relationships and representation of Black marked bodies and life realities.

Carima's paintings focus on figurative Black abstract bodies. They follow a new tradition of Black magical realism that goes beyond Black representation and spirituality.

They contain autobiographical elements and their color power serves as a mediation between the ancestral world and earthly reality. The figures are bearers of their own identity and guardians of their own dignity. They are people whose lives lie in the future and come from inner image archives and family albums, from which they are evoked and revived on canvas.

Carima was nominated in 2025 for the "Junge Positionen NRW" art promotion prize of the "Unser Fritz 2/3" artists' colliery for young artists from the academies in North Rhine-Westphalia.

ENGLISH:

Carlos Carima is an Angolan born painter, currently based in Cologne, Germany. A painting graduate with distinction from the University of Fine Arts in Essen, he participated in the Art Toll residency in Bedburg-Hau in 2023. His solo performance "Spirituality and Quietness", presented at Schauspielhaus Dortmund (2023), explored embodied memory and collective healing.

As both an initiator and participant in various group exhibitions and a member of a Black writers' collective, Carima interweaves painting, writing, and performance art. He uses these disciplines as a medium for artistic reflection and exploration of cultural identity, interpersonal relationships, and the representation of Black-marked bodies and lived realities.

Carima's painting focuses on figurative, abstract Black bodies. His work is rooted in a new tradition of Black magical realism that transcends representation and spirituality. It incorporates autobiographical elements, with vibrant color serving as a conduit between the ancestral realm and earthly existence. His figures are carriers of their own identities and guardians of their own dignity. They are individuals whose lives unfold in the future - emerging from inner visual archives and family photo albums, summoned and reanimated on canvas.

In 2025, he was nominated for the "Junge Positionen NRW" Art Award at "Künstlerzeche Unser Fritz 2/3", which supports emerging artists from art academies across North Rhine-Westphalia.