The New York Times List of the Year’s Best Exhibitions of 2025 Fanny Sanín: Geometric Equations

Colombian artist Fanny Sanín was included in the prestigious list of the best art exhibitions of 2025 compiled by The New York Times, one of the most influential cultural outlets in the world. The recognition was awarded for her exhibition Geometric Equations, presented at the Americas Society in New York — an exhibition that brought together more than six decades of work and solidified her place as a key figure in contemporary geometric abstraction

Americas Society presents the first institutional survey presentation of the Colombian artist Fanny Sanín in New York.

Curated by Dr. Edward J. Sullivan, the exhibition surveys the Colombian-born, New York-based painter’s accomplishments in monumental acrylic painting, smaller compositions, and pencil studies to reinforce Sanín’s position as an indispensable figure within the development of abstract art in both Latin America and the United States.

Dedicated primarily to geometric abstraction, Fanny Sanín’s prolific career spans five decades. Her paintings, drawings, and prints have been exhibited widely throughout Latin America, the United States, and Europe. Although her work has been shown widely in more than 300 group and 55 solo exhibitions, has prompted a variety of publications and scholarly essays, and is included in numerous leading public and private collections, this exhibition will be the first institutional survey presentation of Sanín’s paintings in New York—where she has lived and worked for 54 years.

Designed by artist Carlos Motta, the exhibition features several free-form abstract compositions demonstrating the strength of the artist’s early work before moving into her characteristic geometry-based production. 21 major paintings and two dozen smaller studies are installed in loosely chronological order to guide visitors through the subtle changes in Sanín’s use of color and form to explore geometry’s possibilities. An ample selection of preparatory sketches speaks to the painter’s meticulous process. Viewers will see how Sanín begins to create her large-scale acrylic paintings after doing many pencil sketches, drawings, collages, and watercolors to refine the juxtapositions in each composition. Eric Marciano’s film, Fanny Sanín The Critic’s Eye: Reflections on Pure Abstraction, is also included in the exhibition which addresses how her work suggests concrete (i.e., Mesoamerican architecture) and oneiric (i.e., a sense of vibration) structures, without directly referencing observed places or things.

Colombian Painter Fanny Sanin Makes The New York Times List of the Year’s Best

The selection was made by Holland Cotter, a renowned art critic for the U.S. newspaper, who highlighted the rigor, coherence, and lasting relevance of Sanin’s work, even at the age of 87.

PHOTO: Fanny Sanín. Acrylic.No.2, 2021. Courtesy of the Artist