The collaboration between Costa Rica’s Fundación Teorética and the Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Arte Roma (MUCA Roma) in Mexico has begotten Foundation Myths, an exhibit that opened on Aug. 11.
Four Costa Ricans –Priscilla Monge, Karla Solano, Joaquin Rodríguez del Paso and Jose Alberto Hernandez Campos- are exposing artworks made with a variety of techniques and themes. Jurgen Ureña, the Foundation’s general coordinator and head of the audiovisual project, is MUCA’s guest curator.
According to Mr. Ureña, the Tropical Arcadia that was built since the late 19th century has crumbled down little by little, challenged by daily evidence and the work of several artists who unknowingly reviewed some of the myths that articulate Costa Rica’s national imagery.
This is clearly seen, for instance, in the RIP Unfinished Mugs series (2011) by Jose Alberto Hernandez because, according to Ureña, this one shows “the difference between myth and daily life, between observers and observed people, between visible and invisible.” Hernandez subverts the mug concept as he comes up with the flip side of the image which is additionally blurry and undetermined in terms of features and details. The result, other than leading to immediate identification –the actual purpose of this kind of photography- is doubt and uncertainty. The pictures refer to a walk of life or class that has been traditional tossed into oblivion and criminal status, as stacked up against another class that amasses tremendous economic and social power.
For her part, Priscilla Monge showcases an audiovisual on stuffed cushions made of concrete. Based on the evocation of blood, the artist uses Pillow to run through the uneasy and uneven aspects that lie in seemingly safe places. There’s a mute and gripping violence ingrained in the images that speak volumes of the social violence seen in most of Latin America.
Karla Solano intervenes in both the façade and the interiors of the building with pieces from Blinded andIn the Crosshairs, both from 2011. In them, reflection on the body and collectiveness leads to mulling over social responsibility. As Ureña wrote in the exhibition’s catalog, “in the context of Foundational Myths […]reminds us of the individual’s brittleness in the face of a system that suggests the prudence of non-observation, non-listening or non-denouncing the bizarre inconsistencies between the Tropical Arcadia and everyday Costa Rica.”
A Lego game with the image of pre-Hispanic Chac Mool is the proposal presented by Joaquin Rodriguez del Paso. Leg Godt (2010) chews over such concepts as authorship, legitimacy and originality while it somewhat lampoons the work of his author, the same man who built half a dozen similar sculptures back in 1996.
Foundational Myths
Thru Oct. 30
MUCA Roma
Tonalá 51, esquina Colima, Colonia Roma, Mex.
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