THE PRE-COLUMBIAN ROOTS IN THE CONTEMPORARY, AT CASA DE AMERICA
Casa de América is hosting three interconnected exhibitions in Madrid until November 30 that investigate and show the influence of the arts and the roots of pre-Columbian cultures in contemporary art and architecture.
From Neo to Pop, curated by Rodrigo Gutiérrez Viñuales, proposes a journey through the eyes and the work of five photographers whose thematic axis is the architecture of the last decades and on which that pre-Columbian influence can be appreciated in the different construction proposals. Reflected in the photographs of Jose Manuel Ballester (Madrid, Spain, 1960), Lourdes Grobet (Mexico City, Mexico, 1940), Pablo Lopez Luz (Mexico City, Mexico, 1979), Peruvian Mario Silva and Sao Paulo-based photographer Tatewaki Nio (Kobe, Japan, 1971), the different currents of the native peoples are evident both in the formal and popular culture, both in their imaginary and in the strong substrate that maintains the artistic practice in Latin America today.
The exhibition Alejandro Puente. Amerindian Structures and Systems, although independently, connects with Del Neo al Pop as far as the area of study is concerned, but focusing on the work of Alejandro Puente (La Plata, Argentina, 1933 - Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2013), one of the key figures in the processes of reinterpretation of ancestral Amerindian aesthetics.
The works on display in this exhibition reflect different technical, creative and aesthetic stages of his production between 1971 and 1996, the period in which the symbols, structures and colors, most of them inspired by Andean textiles, were probably best reflected.
Candelaria Traverso (Córdoba, Argentina, 1991) exhibits in CHAKANAS two works to complete these three views offered by Casa de América. These could be identified as a recognition of Alejandro Puente. In his creative process appear the connections between the past and the present from the most everyday spaces and environments. Once again, textiles play a predominant role, although not only formally, but also ideologically, where -precisely because of those spaces- they also represent an instrument of commerce and transaction between the first and the third world.
From Neo to Pop, Alejandro Puente. Amerindian Structures and Systems and CHAKANAS can be seen until November 30 at Casa de América, Calle Marqués del Duero, 2, Madrid (Spain).
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