Iván Argote
Somos [We are] and
Reddishblue Memories
September 5–October 7, 2017
Vermelho
Rua Minas Gerais, 350
01244010, São Paulo
SP Brazil
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Saturday 11am–5pm
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Vermelho presents Somos [We Are], Iván Argote’s second solo show at the gallery, and premiers Reddishblue Memories (2017), his new film.
Somos articulates the idea of monument as the representation and perpetuation of a person or fact deemed relevant to some community. In Arcos [Arches], Argote breaks a concrete circle of massive proportions in six parts, celebrating the interruption of a circular history that could be tragically repeated. Sírvete de mi, Sírveme de ti [Serve Yourself of Me, I Serve Myself of You] (2017), is a tribute formed by a long line of human hands forming a chain.
On the second floor of the gallery, the film As far as we could get, digs an metaphorical tunnel between Indonesia and Colombia connecting two cities—Palembang and Neiva—that are situated at diametrically opposite points of the globe.
An ominous sign in the film are the billboards installed by the artist in both cities announcing another film, La Venganza Del Amor [The Revenge of Love];however, the film announced within the film is an encouraging response to the current global moment of hostility in relation to the other.
In the same room, a group of sculptures made up of laser cut carbon-steel sheets, entitled Sombras [Shadows], overlays different sayings forming anthems. Slogans are mixed with words of affection confounding sensitivity and rationality as in No Site is Innocent (2017) which mixes the title phrase with the term My Dear.
Public monuments are recurrent themes in his work, which explores questions of power, authority, history, art and politics. Born in 1983, in Bogotá, Iván Argote has lived and worked in Paris since 2006.
Reddishblue Memories, by Iván Argote, uses the artist’s affective memories as part of an ongoing project of research and speculation based on the rumor that the Eastman Kodak company switched from Kodachrome to Ektachrome for ideological reasons in the late 1960’s when realizing that Kodachrome pictures turned reddish with time. In the context of the Cold War, the company decided that the US archives could not end up with the enemy’s color and so developed the Ektachrome process in which pictures eventually turn blue.
Exhibition: Rooms 1, 2 and façade
Film: Sala Antonio screening room, Reddishblue Memories, 11:24 minutes. Rating: suitable for all ages. Projection room seating capacity: 35
