Spotlight.
Jose Luis Cote
INTRODUCTION
Jose Luis Cote’s is an artist who’s multifaceted practice, traverses a diverse array of visual mediums. His personal and professional journey has led him from being part of teams with various Amazon rainforest communities in his native Colombia to crafting an animation project commissioned by the Granada Centre at The University of Manchester, where he did his MA in Visual Anthropology.
He has been part of research teams and visual producers with nonprofit organisations such as GIZ and the Erigaie Foundation, as well as with academic and educational institutions in Colombia, the UK and the United States. His work has been printed with renowned publishers such as Planeta and Penguin Random House.
He is interested in projects that aim to bridge understanding between cultures and communities, looking at themes of identity, belonging and our connections to specific cultural and geographical contexts. These themes are intricately interwoven with imagination and creating realities and sense.
During his professional career, he has received several recognitions such as The Granada Center Scholarship (2022-2023), Colfuturo Scholarship, IETLS Prize, and was selected for the HOME artist Film Lab, in Home Cinemas -Manchester, (2022), We are here Scotland’s Creators Fund (2023) and Emerging Filmmakers Creative Circle Workshop (2024) in The Scottish Documentary Institute.
INTERVIEW
How did you get into your creative practice? What initially inspired you?
For as long as I can remember. My mum was really interested in painting crafts and she enrolled me in creative practices and activities related to this since very young age, especially painting and drawing. I never hesitated to study Visual Arts and to make this practice a way of life one that has evolved and been nourished over time through other approaches such as anthropology and through exchanges with different people and communities.
As a young boy, I vividly remember the deep impression that David Lynch’s film Lost Highway had on me. I felt confused and somewhat shocked, yet I also had a feeling of fullness and gratification. I believe that experience opened up other possible ways of seeing, not only in cinema or art, but in life itself, revealing alternative modes of perception and different ways of being.
What themes do you tend to interrogate in your creative practices?
I often explore imaginaries and alternative ways of being, how we build meaning in what we do and why we do it. These are recurring subjects in many of my projects. I’m interested in the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of the world and our place within it.
What is your favourite project you’ve ever worked on and why?
In 2015, I took part in a project with several Tucano Oriental indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon, focusing on cultural practices that were gradually disappearing. It was a complex and challenging experience, but one that deeply enriched both my artistic practice and my personal outlook. Once again, it revealed to me other ways of being, of understanding, and of imagining.
What advice would you have for creatives of colour looking to get into your creative practices?
Be colourful! Arts in general is not an easy path, I will suggest to be realistic (I am not sure that I am) but at the same time be a dreamer,” dream before you think” said Tony Morrison. Take risks, try to be constant in your practice (again, I am not sure that I am). Discipline is required.
It’s also important to understand that building a sustainable career is not only about the artistic practice itself or talent within your discipline. Those matter, but they’re not everything. If possible, try to create and be part of communities. Visual arts can be a lonely path, so don’t isolate yourself. We need others to thrive — from fellow artists and local actors in the art scene to the people who surround us in everyday life.
Make yourself visible with a portfolio you feel comfortable with — one that showcases your best projects, aligns with who you are, and tells a coherent story about your approach and interests. Be patient, yet proactive. These are pieces of advice I’m also giving to myself as I write this…
I guess the best advice I would have given to me decades ago is “Be a businessman!” hahaha…
What are you currently working on?
I am involved in several projects, one of them is a painting part of a wider research series, looking at Nükak indigenous cosmogony, in collaboration with an anthropologist which is working in the Amazon in Colombia. Also, with Colombian researchers I am continuing a series of cover books with The University of El Externado a very reputed university particularly focused on Law with projects dealing with our internal conflict.
In Scotland, I am currently collaborating with art therapist Lesley Hill, helping with a film related to projects she works in around mental health in Ghana. Also, I have a documentary-audio-drawing-project that I started thanks to the support of Creators Funds from We Are Here Scotland, a project that has taken me more than what I was expecting, but still, I am working on it.