Iván Argote
Deep Affection
02 Jun - 28 Jul 2018
IVÁN ARGOTE
Deep Affection
Solo Show
2 June - 28 July 2018
Opening Saturday June 2, 4-9pm
The exhibition of Iván Argote at Perrotin Paris is conceived as an essay composed of sculpture, text, video and sound, in which the artist proposes a poetic, sociological and political discussion about the idea of “other”.
From very early ages to today, western civilization has considered the “other” as different, focusing on what divides and separates us. Under this conception, which we know from the bottom of our hearts is simply arbitrary, we have as a civilization historically and scientifically justified discrimination and domination. Argote brings us to diametrically opposite places like two towns in Colombia and Indonesia, that happen to be exact antipodes (a rare geographical relationship that only 6 pairs of cities share in the world), to Cameroun, creating a dialogue between French past and present colonization (A brief history of a square). He simply moves us through Paris (Le fond de Paris), literarily touching us and making us reconsider our perspective towards history, geography and politics.
Massive and delicate architectural interventions in the space serve as support for a writing system that put in friction political and sentimental statements, a strategy that the artist has used in recent large-scale interventions in Bogotá, Mexico and Douala.
Argote uses affection and tenderness to disseminate political tension in urban environments like parks, sidewalks, sewers, billboards and large-scale outdoor building screens. The gallery itself serves as a guide, gently encouraging us to flow through the space and acknowledge the various narratives that the art presents.
In the show, both in the films and in the sculptures, the concept of bodily contact is omnipresent. We see bodies touching, connecting, over lapping. Some sculptures function as devices that suggest body rapprochements (A place to meet, to pass, to jump, to cross). Tension and suspension float around the space, and the idea that we are all connected to the same point by gravity is used formally and conceptually in relation to equilibrium, divergence and closeness.
Born in 1983 in Bogotá, Colombia, Iván Argote lives and works in Paris. His work has been featured in many international exhibitions, including “BienalSur” at Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá - MAMBO, Bogota and at the Immigrantes Hotel - Museo de la Inmigración, Buenos Aires; “Song for my hands”, curated by Marta Mestre, Bienal Internacional de Curitiba, Curitiba; “Somos Tiernos” (solo), Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico (2017); “Future Generation Art Price”, Victor Pinchuk Foundation, Kiev, 2017; “Ideologue”, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, 2016; “Intersections”, Cisneros Fountanals Foundation, Miami, 2015; “Between the Pessimism of the Intellect and the Optimism of the Will”, 5th Thessaloniki Biennale, Thessaloniki, 2015; “Buildering: Misbehaving the City”, Blaffer Art Museum, Houston and CAC Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati in 2014; “La Estrategia” (solo), Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2013; The 30th Sao Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo, 2012, among others. Iván Argote won the CIFO Cisneros Fontanals Foundation Prize in 2015, the Audi talents Award in 2013, and the SAM Art Projects Prize in 2011.
Deep Affection
Solo Show
2 June - 28 July 2018
Opening Saturday June 2, 4-9pm
The exhibition of Iván Argote at Perrotin Paris is conceived as an essay composed of sculpture, text, video and sound, in which the artist proposes a poetic, sociological and political discussion about the idea of “other”.
From very early ages to today, western civilization has considered the “other” as different, focusing on what divides and separates us. Under this conception, which we know from the bottom of our hearts is simply arbitrary, we have as a civilization historically and scientifically justified discrimination and domination. Argote brings us to diametrically opposite places like two towns in Colombia and Indonesia, that happen to be exact antipodes (a rare geographical relationship that only 6 pairs of cities share in the world), to Cameroun, creating a dialogue between French past and present colonization (A brief history of a square). He simply moves us through Paris (Le fond de Paris), literarily touching us and making us reconsider our perspective towards history, geography and politics.
Massive and delicate architectural interventions in the space serve as support for a writing system that put in friction political and sentimental statements, a strategy that the artist has used in recent large-scale interventions in Bogotá, Mexico and Douala.
Argote uses affection and tenderness to disseminate political tension in urban environments like parks, sidewalks, sewers, billboards and large-scale outdoor building screens. The gallery itself serves as a guide, gently encouraging us to flow through the space and acknowledge the various narratives that the art presents.
In the show, both in the films and in the sculptures, the concept of bodily contact is omnipresent. We see bodies touching, connecting, over lapping. Some sculptures function as devices that suggest body rapprochements (A place to meet, to pass, to jump, to cross). Tension and suspension float around the space, and the idea that we are all connected to the same point by gravity is used formally and conceptually in relation to equilibrium, divergence and closeness.
Born in 1983 in Bogotá, Colombia, Iván Argote lives and works in Paris. His work has been featured in many international exhibitions, including “BienalSur” at Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá - MAMBO, Bogota and at the Immigrantes Hotel - Museo de la Inmigración, Buenos Aires; “Song for my hands”, curated by Marta Mestre, Bienal Internacional de Curitiba, Curitiba; “Somos Tiernos” (solo), Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico (2017); “Future Generation Art Price”, Victor Pinchuk Foundation, Kiev, 2017; “Ideologue”, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, 2016; “Intersections”, Cisneros Fountanals Foundation, Miami, 2015; “Between the Pessimism of the Intellect and the Optimism of the Will”, 5th Thessaloniki Biennale, Thessaloniki, 2015; “Buildering: Misbehaving the City”, Blaffer Art Museum, Houston and CAC Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati in 2014; “La Estrategia” (solo), Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2013; The 30th Sao Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo, 2012, among others. Iván Argote won the CIFO Cisneros Fontanals Foundation Prize in 2015, the Audi talents Award in 2013, and the SAM Art Projects Prize in 2011.