Guardian 2
2018 - Sculpture (Sculpture)
37 x 146 x 130 cm
Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa
In Guardian 2 Naufus Ramírez Figueroa explores the historical memory and political reality of the ruins of Kawinal, an archeological site of postclassic Mayan culture that was flooded in order to construct the hydroelectric dam of Chixoy in 1975 in a supposed effort to bring electricity to the country. However, the reality was that the communities living in the area faced the swamping of their lands and properties, and endured the loss of their sacred sites. Those who refused to relocate became the victims—many of which were women and children—of what came to be known as the 1982 massacre of Río Negro at the hands of the military, the spectral traces of which still pervade behind the natural and cultural landscape of the region. Ramírez Figueroa revisits the political history of this event and other communities, to elaborate a narrative that offers a critical perspective on the grim consequences of an armed conflict, which emerges from the social landscape and cultural horizon of the region.
In Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa’s practice, performance and narrative are interwoven through the use of sculptural objects that link pre-Columbian civilizations, seditious brotherhoods, evangelism, and imperialism. In an unsettling dream-like fashion, many of the artist’s works operate as non-narrative fictions that depart from his personal experience of Guatemalan history—particularly the country’s civil war that ran from 1960 to 1996 and in which members of his family took an active part—but always distancing himself from a documentary take on history. Thus, the artist creates fable-like situations, which mix memories and visions from his childhood with a dose of pathos and humor, to address cultural and political events such as the war’s genocide of Mayan populations, the infiltration of Mormon missionaries in the country, and the contemporary followers of apocalyptic conspiracies.
Colors:
Related works sharing similar palette
© » ART & OBJECT
Art Institute of Chicago Workers Ratify First Contract | Art & Object Skip to main content Subscribe to our free e-letter! Webform Your Email Address Role Art Collector/Enthusiast Artist Art World Professional Academic Country USA Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Ascension Island Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia & Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canary Islands Cape Verde Caribbean Netherlands Cayman Islands Central African Republic Ceuta & Melilla Chad Chile China Christmas Island Clipperton Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo - Brazzaville Congo - Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curaçao Cyprus Czechia Côte d’Ivoire Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard & McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao SAR China Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar (Burma) Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands North Korea North Macedonia Norway Oman Outlying Oceania Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Réunion Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka St...
© » KADIST
Cross Lypka
2022tombs and ignitions is a collaborative ceramic sculpture by artists Tyler Cross and Kyle Lypka...
© » TWOCOATSOFPAINT
Afire: Christian Petzold’s combustible feast – Two Coats of Paint Afire (directed by Christian Petzold), 2023, Leon on the beach (Thomas Schubert) , courtesy of Janus Films Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / Instability hovers on several fronts – environmental, political, economic – and German filmmaker Christian Petzold manifests his concern about it with remarkable astuteness...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
AE x Goethe-Institut Critical Writing Micro-Residency: Meet the Writers (Part 1) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints May 8, 2021 We recently announced our selected resident writers for the inaugural AE x Goethe-Institut Critical Writing Micro-Residency, focusing on the development and promotion of critical writing about arts and culture in Southeast Asia...
© » KADIST
Xiaoyun Chen
2012The lengthy titles in Chen Xiaoyun’s work often appear as colophons to his photographs that invite the viewer to a process of self realization through contemplating the distance between word and image...
© » KADIST
Lutz Bacher
2016Sweet Jesus is a sound installation by Lutz Bacher that consists of a found recording of James Earl Jones’ iconic voice reciting biblical genealogy from Matthew, Book 1...
© » KADIST
Ahmet Ögüt
2022Monuments of the Disclosed by Ahmet Ögüt is an NFT series of digital monuments to whistleblowers...
© » KADIST
Chemi Rosado-Seijo
2016Map of the Universe from El Cerro continues Chemi Rosado-Seijo’s long-term engagement with the community of El Cerro , a rural, working-class community living in the mountains of Naranjito, Puerto Rico...
© » WHITEHOT
Steven Seidenberg: The Residue of Life & The Architecture of Silence advertise donate post your art opening recent articles cities contact about article index podcast main December 2023 "The Best Art In The World" "The Best Art In The World" December 2023 Steven Seidenberg: The Residue of Life & The Architecture of Silence Shinjuku #3, Tokyo Tape...
© » KADIST
The Feeling Sense An illustrated conversation with Leslie Shows and Ross Simonini What is the relationship between art and the language that surrounds it? Must an artwork be explained, decoded, or carry a fixed meaning? When you approach an object, where in your body do you feel it? Does it affect you in ways you cannot verbally describe? The “Feeling Sense” is the perceptual capacity of any living organism to encounter their environment...