Estratos II

2019 - Sculpture (Sculpture)

100 x 760 x 40 cm

Cynthia Gutiérrez

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Estratos II by artist Cynthia Gutiérrez features a large white plinth with a transversal cut through the lower half, revealing a collection of archeological objects. These pieces of history have seemingly been lost to time and have lived covered under a sterile exterior. To create the ceramic objects for this project, Gutiérrez worked closely with an artist that creates Mesoamerican replicas. Typically a plinth functions to present, support or stabilize an artwork or object, however, Gutiérrez’s work reveals that this foundation also carries an invisible history—remains buried under the surface of the present. As such, the work becomes a metaphor for all histories that are continuously replicated, transferred, and sustained from generation to generation. With this sculpture, Gutiérrez refers to her concern for a world that is about to become extinct. E stratos II alludes to the transient nature of humankind and its histories, its symbols, and idols.

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Cynthia Gutiérrez is one of the leading figures of contemporary art in Mexico. Throughout her research-based projects, Gutiérrez navigates the relationship between past and present, memory and oblivion. Her work examines how time impacts both the symbolic and the material world, and how concepts such as nationalism, victory, and triumph are the result of a particular moment of history that could vanish with time. Gutiérrez has utilized a number of mediums including sculpture, video, painting, drawings, and tapestries to investigate the ways in which identity is embedded in objects.

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Colors:

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• archeology.n.01
• history.n.02
• time.n.01
• memory.n.01
• object.n.01