Ricardo Arias (Bogotá, Colombia, 1965) is an experimental musician, sound artist, professor and researcher.
For many years his work centered on improvised music using unconventional sound sources, both acoustic and electronic.
More recently he has also produced sound sculptures, installations and site specific sound interventions.
He has presented his work in the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Roulette Intermedium (New York), Experimental Intermedia Foundation (New York),
La MaMa (New York), Harvestworks (New York), Diapason Gallery (New York), Museum Kunst Palast (Düsseldorf), Galerie Rahel-Haferkamp (Cologne),
Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), Ohrenhoch Gallery (Berlin), La Casa Encendida (Madrid), the Miró Foundation (Barcelona), The Electric Eclectics Festival
(Meaford, Canada), FIMAV (Victoriaville, Canada), Experimenta Festival (Buenos Aires), Espace SD (Beirut) and the Colón Theater (Bogotá) among many other
venues and festivals in North and South America, Europe and the Middle East.
Arias has collaborated with numerous experimental musicians, improvisers and sound artists from around the world, including Michel Doneda, Axel Dörner,
Robin Hayward, Tatsuya Nakatani, Pauline Oliveros, Vic Rawlings, Mazen Kerbaj, Pascal Boudreault, Peter Evans, Nate Wooley, Yasunao Tone, Hans Tammen,
Andrew Drury, Jane Rigler, Sean Meehan, Alessandro Bosetti, Chris Mann, James Fei, Sharif Sehnaoui, Christine Abdelnour, Michael Zerang, Wade Matthews,
Anne Wellmer, Gabriel Paiuk, Roberto García, Ricardo Gallo, Barry Weisblat, Santiago Botero, Lou Malozzi, Jim Denley, Kim Myhr, MURAL, Dror Feiler, Juan Cortés, Jim Denley, Chris Chafe, Chris Cogburn and Miguel Frasconi among many others.
Arias also curates experimental music festivals and sound art exhibitions such as Primer Festival de Los Tiempos del Ruido (Bogotá y Cali, 1995),
In-Audito Festival (Bogotá, 2008), Vociferous: Sound Works by 21 Contemporary Colombian Artists (Diapason Gallery, New York, 2010),
Densidades: Arte Sonoro en Colombia (Bogotá, 2011), Al Claro de Luna: reminiscencias sonoras (Bogotá, 2013) and
Sonósferas: el sonido en las prácticas artísticas contemporáneas (Bogotá, 2013).
His essays on his work and on Colombian experimental music and sound art have been published in Experimental Musical Instruments, Leonardo Music Journal,
and Resonancias (Catholic University, Chile)
Arias is Associate Professor in the Art Department at Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá.