The Botín Foundation is hosting the Orden Aparente (poetico-politico) exhibition until March, 2015 by Cuban artist Carlos Garaicoa (Havana, 1967) who this year returns to Santander after directing the international workshop of Villa Iris, in which 15 young artists have attended. The exhition is curated by Vicente Todolí, chairman of the Advisory Commission of Plastic Arts of Botin Foundation, and it shows the most recent creation (2009-2014) of one of the most genuine and recognized artists born after the Cuban revolution- January, 1959- from the 1960's.
Over 35 works created through different means such as installation, video, photography, sculpture, pop-up books and drawings, allow the visitors to an rapprochement to the aesthetic imaginary and critical discourse of this artist who is internationally recognized for his work in which the city underlies as a representation of the individual and collective memory.
A unique journey through some of the most representative works created by the Carlos Garaicoa in the last decade including some works highlighting his own language when addressing issues with a strong policy like Las Joyas de la Corona (The Crown Jewels, 2009) or more poetic works such as Jardín (from the series La ciudad vista desde la mesa de casa, 1998) and Porque toda ciudad tiene derecho a llamarse Utopía (Because every city has the right to be called Utopia, 2001). In addition, some of his most recent works are presented such as Escala 1:1 (Scale 1:1, 2014), from the series Edificios parlantes (Talking buildings, 2011) or his new series of drawings Infames casas ocultas (Infamous Hidden Houses, 2014), among others.
Parallel, a piece specifically conceived for the exhibition will be display at the Botín Foundation of Santander: Proyecto Frágil (Santander), 2014, which recreates a major port city with its geography, ships and cranes, through thin glass sheets joined by magnets. This type of work the artist has been creating since 2010 refers to the fragility of the city and certain areas of its potential political or economic exploitation. Garaicoa carried out a similar project for the Cockatoo Island during the Sydney Bienal in 2013.
Another work in which he uses the same kind of materials is Wer im Glashaus sitzt (If you have a glass house..., 2013), in which he reproduced the Haus der Kunst Museum in Munich, where the famous exhibition of Degenerate Art during the fascism took place.
Orden Aparente (poético-político) emphasizes the natural process of the Carlos Garaicoa’s work showing different social realities through a wide variety of languages and media questioning the viewers and lead them to reflection, in which issues like the ability of the architecture to change the course of history, the failure of modernity as a catalyst for social change or the decline of the utopias of the 20th century, are revealed.
Source: artecontexto.com
