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DAVID

Rita Ponce de León

28 Noviembre de 2012 - 24 Febrero de 2013

Espacio de exhibición: Cubo

Curaduría: María Elena Ortiz

David, a new commission by Peruvian artist Rita Ponce de León, is a contemporary mural conceived as the portrait of the silhouette of David Alfaro Siqueiros. It was developed through drawings and conversations that the artists had with colleagues and friends, but also by way of an investigation of the Siquieros Archive, located at the museum. On the walls of the white-cube, David is a collection of drawings in black ink. It is an archipelago of meanings that attempts to, critically and empathetically relate with the figure of Siqueiros. The work provides a space of representation and a game of perspectives while altering the stiffness of the walls.

 

Rita comenzó este proceso de trabajo accediendo al archivo documental de Siqueiros, sus fotografías históricas y algunos documentos que lo posicionaron (en la palabras de la joven artista) “como una figura visionaria”. A partir de esta investigación, estableció ciertos conceptos (concentración, dispersión, solidez, ligereza, fluidez, restricción y coincidencia) mismos que trasladó hacia la escena social de nuestros días. 

To approach Siqueiros’s creative process, the artist first investigated the historical documents in order to select images and texts from the archive. Consequently, Ponce de Leon carried a series of conversations with five friends (Rodrigo Aceves Hernandez, Maj Britt Jensen, Monica Espinoza, Fernando Prieto and Leandro Chernicoff) on muralist’s ethical, political and artistic proposals while positioning her creative process within the intimacy of a conversation. This strategy allowed for the intuitive creation of the visual fragments that compose the piece. Disregarding the hierarchies of images and thoughts that characterized the work of the muralist, David was constructed through the impressions of a collective to provide an alternative concept of the mural.

In a way, Ponce de Leon operates through a paradox. On the one hand, she emphasizes the relentless opposition between the individual and the notions that form a group, by way of contrasting the images with the solo and performative acts seen on a video, but also by seeking her audience’s feedback. Meanwhile, the artist provides the possibility for the public to join the project, by including a series of notebooks that people can intervene to draw a line between the artist’s concerns and the audience’s reception.

With this new commission, the Sala de Arte Publico Siqueiros investigates the dialogues between contemporary art and the legacy of the museum. It points out one of the conceptual lines that have characterized these last years of work: experimentation and an alternative concept of a mural as an artistic strategy.

 


Curated by Maria Elena Ortiz