LLANTO POR LA MARCHA DE LA HUMANIDAD
Christian Jankowski
08 Febrero de 2012 - 08 Abril de 2012
Espacio de exhibición: Cubo, Pasillo , Galería y Patio de murales
Curaduría: Taiyana Pimentel y Natalia Valencia
Crying for the March of Humanity is a solo-exhibition of Christian Jankowski that presents an innovative and complex analysis of the relationship between art and politics -a discourse that the Sala de Arte Publico Siqueiros (SAPS) has been dedicated to for the last three years. Through the deconstruction of the dramatic gestures that mediate between fiction and reality, Jankowski addresses the power of one of the largest Spanish-language broadcast companies. The artist focused on one of the Telenovela’s (a Latin American version of soap opera) highest forms of expressions: the act of crying, while also inserting himself into Televisa’s creative strategies to radically alter the possibilities of the dramatic genre. Moreover, Jankowski managed to create a parallel between his interest on the deconstruction of Western myths (the cult to the image of Christ, acts of magic, or the dramatics that reign in Latin American culture) with the character of the political figure and icon of Mexican modernity, David Alfaro Siqueiros. By crafting a language game that intertwines the televised act of crying with the grandiosity of title of Siqueiros’ mural The March of Humanity, the artist created an intricate notion on the dynamics of the dramatic genre and the function of the political analysis of art.
Through Jankowski’s use of the convoluted language and the repetitive terminologies of art criticism, this exhibition points to other structures within the History of Art. A video-installation entitled, Discursive News (2012) shows a recognized news commentators reading a critical text. This piece presents the pragmatism and rhythmic cadence of the act of news reading, when subjected to the Baroque tropes that prevail in curatorial structures. It further complicates the role of the media in relation to the museum institution and the public space.
Lastly, Jankowski found a paradox in the political Left of the beginning of the 20th Century, which pertains to a photograph taken by Siqueiros. The archival photograph shows the elegant and refined hand of a model holding a drill bit -a symbol of the working class. The photograph was turned into a monumental sculpture that emphasizes the irony that characterizes Jankowski’s artistic strategies. In order to reproduce the original gesture of the Mexican muralist, SAPS’ employees posed with the archival image. Through the production of three new pieces, Crying for the March of Humanity represents one of the most poignant curatorial exercises that the artist along with the museum developed the relationship between art and politics.