The Heroes’ Pantheon
OSDE Foundation, Buenos Aires
Fiction and reality coalesce in Panteón de los héroes. Historias, próceres y otros en el arte contemporáneo (The heroes’ pantheon, Histories, patriots and others in contemporary art), displayed at OSDE Foundation and curated by Isabel Plante and Sebastián Vidal Mackinson, who question concepts historically rooted in history, in coincidence with the recent Bicentennial of Argentina in 2010. The ancient notions about the “heroes of the homeland”, installed in the collective imaginary as the citizens were provided schooling, are explored through the different supports and authors of diverse generations, covering almost a century of artistic trends. Organized in four nuclei - histories, heroes, others and studiolo (like in a cabinet of curiosities this segment brought together both historic materials and utopist contemporary sketches) -, the works of 40 artists offer dreams and delusions, sociological and political reflections, intimate meditations and collective catharses upon “revisiting episodes and figures of national history”.
The photos of absence by Res, the revulsive paintings of Luis F. Noé, the collages with scenes of repression in the streets of Juan Carlos Romero, constitute an invitation to emotion and thought. The off-center saber and the fictitious coin painted by Esteban Álvarez, the images of heroes intervened by Agustín Blanco, the photographic records of the “small characters” acted by Gabriel Chaile, the videos by Cristina Coll, in the skin of heroine of independence Juana Azurduy, playing the lead role in scenes of “soap opera” to the rhythm of Sandro’s music, appeal to humor to dig deeper into the past. Irony in white and black in 10m /s 2 (Caída Libre)(Free Fall) - 10 meters per square second is the acceleration speed of a body in free fall – of The Plan (Marcelo de la Fuente-Ricardo Visentini), in a 3D animation of a monumental sculpture that ends up slowly collapsing, like everything exclusive and hegemonic.
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The Plan (Marcelo de la Fuente - Ricardo Visentini) 10m /s 2 (Free Fall) (2004), video, 30'. El Plan (Marcelo de la Fuente - Ricardo Visentini) 10m /s 2 (Caída libre) (2004), video, 30'.
