Álvaro Marín Vieco was born in Medellín in 1946, into a family of musicians and artists, always surrounded by a creative environment marked by rhythms, listening, and observation. He began studying architecture at the Universidad Bolivariana in 1965, but the following year moved to Bogotá to continue his studies in fine arts at the Universidad Nacional. Throughout his career, Marín has focused on abstraction, with an interest in transparencies and color nuances in relation to light.
He was part of the group of eleven artists from Antioquia in the 1970s, propelled by Alberto Sierra. This urban generation was influenced by contemporary international movements and formed a group of friends and artists who marked an important moment in the conception of art in the city and the regional decentralization of the visual arts in the country, during a period driven by the presence of biennials. Marín stood out from his peers as the only abstract painter in the group, drawing inspiration from other artists working in a similar language in other parts of the country, such as Carlos Rojas, Edgar Negret, and Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar.
From the beginning, Marín explored the chemical aspects of pigments by making his own acrylics, with the aim of achieving the purest tones, drawing on Itten's study of color theory. He studied vibration, high contrast of pure color, tonal value, luminosity, and how sight affects the physiological process, perceiving sensations or seeking balance. He contemplated the atmospheres present in landscapes, capturing the immaterial tones of light at different times and spaces, conducting an exercise in observing and identifying ranges, shadows, and depths, which he sought to capture through transparencies.