Antonio Paucar
02 May - 21 Jun 2014
ANTONIO PAUCAR
2 May – 21 June 2014
Gallery Barbara Thumm will present the first solo exhibition by the Peruvian artist Antonio Paucar, which will feature four new video pieces from 2013 and 2014, photography as well as one installation. Paucar was born in Huancayo, Peru, in 1973. As a young man he trained to be a beekeeper, later he studied Fine Art at the UdK in Berlin as well as at the Chelsea College of Arts and Design in London. He lives and works in Berlin and in the Peruvian Andes, commuting between these two diverse cultures has centrally informed his work. He constantly crosses references and interchanges relations of his cultural identity.
The core of Paucars work lies in his performances in which he creates a dense body of readings which are beyond language. In his video and performance pieces Paucar communicates through the movements of his body through space. Highly concentrated and subtle movements through natural, urban and public spaces demarcate intense imaginary world, loaded with symbolic and cultural readings. The meaning in his work can be found in the poignant staging of cultural difference.
The wall based installation Círculo del Altiplano / The Altiplano Circle (2009), will be shown for the first time in Berlin. Displayed at the entree of the exhibition, the piece introduces the viewer to Paucars ouevre. Nine pairs of woman's pleated hair are arrange in a double circle on the wall. Whilst not displaying any pathos, the piece shows an accurate and culturally very specific empathy, referencing to the highly symbolic act of Peruvian indigenous women who have to cut and sell their hair and traditional clothing in order to finance their moving to the rapidly developing new urban centres and to a modern lifestyle.
Paucar's four most recent video works are at the centre of the exhibition. They point towards the hiatus of perception that result in the overlapping of cultures. It is within these gaps that Paucar succeeds to point towards the differences of material and immaterial cultural practise in different societies. His works depict moments of exact introspection and of a decelerated gaze. He creates intense and clairvoyant moments, which playfully allow the viewer to dive into a sense of the other. What remains are silent and culturally aware imprints of space and time.
In Guardián del maizal (2013) for example, the artist slowly walks through a cornfield towards the viewer. His long hair covers his head like a black balaclava which wraps his face gently and ghostly until only his eyes can be seen, fixating the viewer. In a second take, Paucar appears with open hair parted left and right. He stands in front of the camera, bows elegantly setting his hair in motion which within a second starts to wrap itself forcefully around his head, creating a turban which covers his entire neck, face and head.
It remains unclear whether Paucar is the guardian of the corn behind him, or whether he is surveying the viewer in front of him. It also remains unclear whether Paucar incorporates an indigenous mythological figure or whether we look into the eyes of a camouflaged terrorist. What remains is the image of a dark mask of hair which coverts the face of its carrier, thus becoming an open field of projection of the viewers interpretation.
The works in the exhibition were produced in Huancayo and in the area of Cusco, Peru, for the Second Edition of Latin American Roaming Art - LARA project organised and financed by Asiaciti Trust, a leading Asia Pacific-based fiduciary services group, through its Asiaciti Trust Charity Foundation. The exhibition curated by Miguel A. López and Jose Roca will be on display at MAC (Contemporary Art Museum) in Lima from 08 May until 30 June, 2014 .
The video installation Purzelbaum in Yves Klein/ Summersault in Yves Klein as part oft he exhibition Wall Works can be seen at Hamburger Bahnhof until the end of August.
Antonio Paucar received the grant performance of the Villa Aurora 2014.
2 May – 21 June 2014
Gallery Barbara Thumm will present the first solo exhibition by the Peruvian artist Antonio Paucar, which will feature four new video pieces from 2013 and 2014, photography as well as one installation. Paucar was born in Huancayo, Peru, in 1973. As a young man he trained to be a beekeeper, later he studied Fine Art at the UdK in Berlin as well as at the Chelsea College of Arts and Design in London. He lives and works in Berlin and in the Peruvian Andes, commuting between these two diverse cultures has centrally informed his work. He constantly crosses references and interchanges relations of his cultural identity.
The core of Paucars work lies in his performances in which he creates a dense body of readings which are beyond language. In his video and performance pieces Paucar communicates through the movements of his body through space. Highly concentrated and subtle movements through natural, urban and public spaces demarcate intense imaginary world, loaded with symbolic and cultural readings. The meaning in his work can be found in the poignant staging of cultural difference.
The wall based installation Círculo del Altiplano / The Altiplano Circle (2009), will be shown for the first time in Berlin. Displayed at the entree of the exhibition, the piece introduces the viewer to Paucars ouevre. Nine pairs of woman's pleated hair are arrange in a double circle on the wall. Whilst not displaying any pathos, the piece shows an accurate and culturally very specific empathy, referencing to the highly symbolic act of Peruvian indigenous women who have to cut and sell their hair and traditional clothing in order to finance their moving to the rapidly developing new urban centres and to a modern lifestyle.
Paucar's four most recent video works are at the centre of the exhibition. They point towards the hiatus of perception that result in the overlapping of cultures. It is within these gaps that Paucar succeeds to point towards the differences of material and immaterial cultural practise in different societies. His works depict moments of exact introspection and of a decelerated gaze. He creates intense and clairvoyant moments, which playfully allow the viewer to dive into a sense of the other. What remains are silent and culturally aware imprints of space and time.
In Guardián del maizal (2013) for example, the artist slowly walks through a cornfield towards the viewer. His long hair covers his head like a black balaclava which wraps his face gently and ghostly until only his eyes can be seen, fixating the viewer. In a second take, Paucar appears with open hair parted left and right. He stands in front of the camera, bows elegantly setting his hair in motion which within a second starts to wrap itself forcefully around his head, creating a turban which covers his entire neck, face and head.
It remains unclear whether Paucar is the guardian of the corn behind him, or whether he is surveying the viewer in front of him. It also remains unclear whether Paucar incorporates an indigenous mythological figure or whether we look into the eyes of a camouflaged terrorist. What remains is the image of a dark mask of hair which coverts the face of its carrier, thus becoming an open field of projection of the viewers interpretation.
The works in the exhibition were produced in Huancayo and in the area of Cusco, Peru, for the Second Edition of Latin American Roaming Art - LARA project organised and financed by Asiaciti Trust, a leading Asia Pacific-based fiduciary services group, through its Asiaciti Trust Charity Foundation. The exhibition curated by Miguel A. López and Jose Roca will be on display at MAC (Contemporary Art Museum) in Lima from 08 May until 30 June, 2014 .
The video installation Purzelbaum in Yves Klein/ Summersault in Yves Klein as part oft he exhibition Wall Works can be seen at Hamburger Bahnhof until the end of August.
Antonio Paucar received the grant performance of the Villa Aurora 2014.