|
Central America comes to Asia
Taipei Fine Arts Museum is currently offering a rare opportunity to see the work of Central American artists outside their native countries
By Vico Lee
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Sep 29, 2002, Page 19
|
Urbania 1, by Rodolfo Molina.
PHOTO: VICO LEE, TAIPEI TIMES
|
Contemporary Art from Central America, currently on show at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, is a touring exhibition setting out from Taipei and going to other countries in Asia. It is a rare chance for museum-goers in Taiwan to see these works.
According to Rolando Barahona-Sotela, director of the Contemporary Art and Design Museu in Costa Rica and co-curator of the exhibition, artists were selected by standards stressing "quality" rather than on a thematic or generational basis. The exhibits, by both established and aspiring artists, thus seem to have little in common.
Among the better known are Patricia Belli, Luis Gonzalez Palma and Federico Herrero, who participated in the Venice Biennial last year, and Raul Quintanilla and Priscilla Monge, both of whom participated in the Bienal Internacional de Sao Paulo in 1996 and 1998 respectively. Sao Paulo Biennial has proven to be a major spring-board to international exposure.
"Contemporary art is only at its initial stage in Central America. Traditional media remains prevalent in what little art there is," said Chu Chi-rong (¦¶¬ö»T), exhibition manager of TFAM. Torn by decades of war, the low living standards allow little contact with the international art world. Artists turn to Aboriginal culture for inspiration and the resulting works display a distinguished aesthetic.
Guatemalan photographer Luis Gonzalez Palma's Ora Pronovis (Praying For Us) is a solemn installation of 30 close-ups of the feet of Aboriginal workers. Light bulbs are hung so close to the wax-covered photos that the wax melts. A close look reveals the scar-like traces of melted wax. His other piece on show juxtaposes a headshot of an Aborigine with the symbols of the luxurious lifestyles led by former Spanish colonists. It is a quiet yet powerful social critique.
As in Palma's works, photography is a medium favored by central American artists. Panamanian photographer Sandra Eleta has been living in Portobello since the 1980s where she has shot several photo series of the Indian communities in this handicraft hub. Her three photos on show are a glimpse at the joyful moments in their lives in harmony with nature. The easy atmosphere and intimacy revealed by the looks in the subjects' eyes is touching. It's a shame that only two photos from the Serie Emberas are on display, a sampling too small to convey the photographer's intention.
Guatemalan Isabel Ruiz's Testimonio and Los Derechos Humanos (Human Rights) deal with the country's sorrowful past under military dictatorship. In the former, dozens of white handkerchiefs are hung on clotheslines. On them are written the stories of those killed by the military regime as told by the victims' family members. It shows a brave approach to dealing with past suffering.
Light-hearted works are also present. Cinthya Soto's Al Otro Lado de la Simultaneidad (The Other Side of Simultaneity) is an eye-catching piece that has drawn much attention among TFAM visitors. The two photos of the artist and her friend lying in a meadow are taken from different angles so that one shows the friend looking at the artist while the other showing the artist looking at the camera. The truthfulness of photography is thus subverted and the way we perceive interactions between individuals questioned. Although the juxtaposition of different perspectives is hardly a novel theme in contemporary art, the work's straight-forward approach is quite rare.
Works like Regina Aguilar's El Super Macho Latino, an installation showing how the artist perceives men, Luis Paredes' photo collage Enfragmento IX, Yasser Musa's The Banana Boy Project, an installation showing the same toy against various backgrounds and Diana de Solares' Hector y Lyuba, an autobiographical video installation, are hardly innovative in their use of medium or approach to the subject matter. However, the often bold expression and the obvious influence of Aboriginal artistic traditions make the exhibition worthwhile for those interested in Central American culture.
What: Exhibit of Contemporary Art from Central America
Where: Taipei Fine Arts Museum
When: Through Dec. 15
This story has been viewed 2291 times.
|
Print
Mail
wiki links