This piece, a first instalment of a work in progress, was first shown at the formerly known as UK Mexican Arts Society, now known as Sommers Gallery, in Kings Cross, London, March -April 2022.
It was part of a group show of a compendia of participative works selected by a collective of young curators from Central Saint Martins. The exhibition’s title was CASA EXHIBITION, and somehow the Ian was to reinterprete the concept of home as from the point of view of Latin American artists that happen to be immigrants in London.
Why Latin American artists? This is a growing ethnic/cultural collective, driven by political and economic conflicts to leave their nations, sometimes for a brief moment of time, sometimes forever.
Myself, I never imagine I would no be living in my natal Caracas at this age, 50. The original plan or desire was to learn from a radically different part of the world and, following the tradition of Venezuelans over the years, return to share such knowledge… The Narco regimen in place in Venezuela has made life in my country very difficult. Only those very old o too young to leave or those looking after the año mentioned, or those very few that can survive a permanent economic crisis -even benefit from it- stay in Venezuela.
This work is the work of an immigrant artist that envisage a folding, storable crate, with foldable furniture-that is perfectly confortable- that holds a tropical la decape made in oil, using the hues of the blue China, in an oval format. The format and the colour immediately makes us think of -absent- rich interiors from the past. I offered a seat, a prime spot to contemplate this image, in order to make possible a reflexion of sorts.
This work is made in chipboard, a material chosen for its implications as ephemeral, temporal and as the material usually use as a base of structures such as attic flooring, hoarding and any other structure that would be usually be covered with some else kore alluring.
As I mentioned before , this was the first instalment. The original concept should be a fully functional folding crate with Castor wheels that opens and close and wheeled as needed.