Antonio José Caro Lopera (10 December 1950 – 29 March 2021) was a Colombian conceptual artist who created works since the late 1960s.

The vast majority of his work makes use of text as a tool to communicate strong messages, but instead acquires the paradoxical nuances of a political nature as a means of production and dissemination.

Some of his important works include: Sal (1971), Imperialism is a Paper Tiger (1972), There is No Case (1974), Colombia-Marlboro (1975), Colombia-Coca Cola (1977), Defend Your Talent (1977), Todo está muy Caro (Everything is too expensive; 1978), Homage to Manuel Quintin Lame (1979), Project 500 (1987), and Onoto, among others.

He decided to enroll in the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogota as a Fine Art student shortly after completing high school.

However, despite his intense passion for art he dropped out of the university, attributing his lack of academic success to his inability to complete the general curriculum.

The criticism brought on Caro and Salcedo in the early 1970s inspired them to produce more idea based works rooted in Colombian social issues.

The group had essentially filled the vacuum of power left being by the warring Conservatives and Liberals of Colombia and instead established their own tyrannical state under a pretext of democracy.

The salt which makes up the bust of Lleras represented both the weakness of the current government according to Caro as well as the cultural traditions of the Chibcha indigenous civilization.

Underneath each poster lies the name of a victim killed by tyrannical governmental forces in Colombia, mainly El Frente.

Forceful action used against organized political strikes as well as the elimination of popular local leaders became increasingly numerous during Borrero's term.

[3] Originally exhibited in 1973 at the Nombres nuevos en el arte de Colombia (New Names in the Art of Colombia), El imperialismo es un tigre de papel (Imperialism is a Paper Tiger) was the recreation of Mao Tse Tung's famous expression Imperialism is a Paper Tiger.

Additionally, on each side of the banner Caro placed a total of twelve silhouette tigers to effectively use environmental spaces at the exhibit.

One of the most widely known pieces of this project was presented by Caro at the Agudelo Gallery, made from white cardstock and red tissue paper.

Although the project seemingly addresses smokers, the actual intent of the work was pertaining to a larger globalization movement that Caro was passionate about.

Caro wanted to highlight the growing consumerism in Colombia that he felt was bringing forth capitalist and imperialist pressures on Colombian identity.

Due to the positive feedback he had received after the Marlboro Project, Caro decided to continue the use of advertisement manipulation in order to further the spread of his ideas.

Although it is not known whether Cildo Meireles' Coca-Cola Project in 1970 had any effect on Caro, the similarities are helpful in understanding the greater context for advertisement based pieces.