The Rebellion of the Roots (France)

2021 - Painting (Painting)

14 wood panels: 20 x 30 cm

Daniela Ortiz


The Rebellion of Roots by Daniela Ortiz depicts a series of situations in which tropical plants, held hostage in the botanical gardens and greenhouses of Europe, are protected and nurtured by the spirits of racialized people who died as a result of European racism. The work is divided into four short stories: About Afghanistan and heroin , About Exposition Colonial and cow , About Jardin d’acclimatation and potato , and About Vietnam . The series of 14 painted panels draw upon the aesthetic of ex-votos, a genre of traditional religious folk painting that acts as a tribute for divine intervention in response to personal tragedy. In the paintings, the plants create their own forms of justice by confronting the authorities and institutions that perpetuate structural racism. In particular, the series exposes the violent influence of French colonialism around the world. The series draws connections between current geopolitical events and colonial histories, underpinned by various forms of poetic justice. At once colorful, naive, and humorous, the paintings are also sobering and cruel. For example, the poppy flowers in Afghanistan which witness the French military intervention, end up killing a French soldier in Mali who receives morphine treatment after an injury. In another painting, Frontex officials (the agency that regulates European borders) die choking on ‘anti-colonial’ potatoes from the Andes, or fall into the Seine, in the same spot where police repressed Algerian anti-colonial protests in 1961.


In order to reveal and critique hegemonic structures of power, Daniela Ortiz constructs visual narratives that examine concepts such as nationality, racialization, and social class. Ortiz’s work is always formally evolving, while maintaining a grassroot activist commitment. Her recent projects and research take up colonialism as it relates to European migratory control systems and legal structures that incite and perpetuate violence against racialized communities. Her artistic practice has turned to focus more on material and manual work, developing art pieces in ceramic, collage, and in formats such as children books in order to distinguish her work from eurocentric conceptual art aesthetics. She has also developed projects about the Peruvian upper class and its exploitative relationship with domestic workers.


Colors:



On Fire
© » KADIST

Runo Lagomarsino

2020

On Fire by Runo Lagomarsino comprises twenty pieces of parchment, each of which has had the contours and map of Brazil burned in stages...

After the Finish Line
© » KADIST

Adelita Husni-Bey

2015

After the Finish Line is a recent film by Adelita Husni-Bey produced for the exhibition Movement Break at Kadist-SF in 2015...

Postcards from the Desert Island
© » KADIST

Adelita Husni-Bey

2011

Postcards from the Desert Island is a remake of a 50s educational film Holiday from the rules in which four children interact with an omniscient narrator who teleports them to a tropical island where there are no rules...

Future Tense
© » KADIST

Asli Çavusoglu

2018

Future Tense (2017), a 16-page diary, is a project in the form of a newspaper that brings together 50 oracles by people from various political opinions and ethnicities who consulted sand, lead, tarot cards, coffee grounds, blank sheets of A4 paper, dreams, water, clairvoyance, astrology, pendulums and horoscopes in order to reveal the point that Turkey has reached in news casting...

Yo también soy humo (I am also smoke)
© » KADIST

Runo Lagomarsino

2020

Yo también soy humo (I am also smoke) is a 16mm film that has been digitized to video...

The Devrek Sun Agricultural Development Cooperative
© » KADIST

Asli Çavusoglu

2020

In the exhibition Pink as a Cabbage / Green as an Onion / Blue as an Orange , Asli Çavusoglu pursues her work on color to delve into an investigation into alternative agricultural systems and natural dyes made with fruits, vegetables, and plants cultivated by the farming initiatives she has been in touch with...

Bayramiç Stone Mill
© » KADIST

Asli Çavusoglu

2020

In the exhibition Pink as a Cabbage / Green as an Onion / Blue as an Orange , Asli Çavusoglu pursues her work on color to delve into an investigation into alternative agricultural systems and natural dyes made with fruits, vegetables, and plants cultivated by the farming initiatives she has been in touch with...

Mesopotamia Women’s Cooperative
© » KADIST

Asli Çavusoglu

2020

In the exhibition Pink as a Cabbage / Green as an Onion / Blue as an Orange , Asli Çavusoglu pursues her work on color to delve into an investigation into alternative agricultural systems and natural dyes made with fruits, vegetables, and plants cultivated by the farming initiatives she has been in touch with...

A girl and her brother. Studio Sherazade. 1960s
© » KADIST

Akram Zaatari

1960

“When you position your hand on someone’s shoulder, your shoulders become straight and horizontal...

Anonymous. Madani,’s parent’s home. The Studio, 1949-50
© » KADIST

Akram Zaatari

1950

“Other photographers used to send me negatives of cross-eyed people, asking me to retouch them...

"Baqari’s wife", Studio Shehrazade, Saida, Lebanon
© » KADIST

Akram Zaatari

1957

“These are negatives that were scratched because of a jealous husband from the Baqari family, who never let his wife out by herself...

Anonymous, Studio Sherhazade
© » KADIST

Akram Zaatari

1950

“In the 1980s I started using coloured paper backdrops, one of which was yellow...

"Anonymous (Jradi and a friend)", Studio Shehrazade, Saida, Lebanon
© » KADIST

Akram Zaatari

1972

“The two men were relatives and both were in the Lebanese Army.” Hashem El Madani...

"Two young men from Aadloun", Studio Shehrazade, Saida, Lebanon
© » KADIST

Akram Zaatari

1966

“People often asked if they could pose with the Kodak advertisement where a full scale woman is featured with a camera offering Kodak rolls...

Anonymous, Madani's parents home
© » KADIST

Akram Zaatari

1950

“While taking the picture it was challenging to make the boys sit properly without moving...

Two Palestinian Sisters
© » KADIST

Akram Zaatari

1950

Hashem El Madani, a studio photographer in Saida, began working in 1948...

"Najm", Studio Shehrazade, Saida, Lebanon
© » KADIST

Akram Zaatari

1956

“People often asked if they could pose with the Kodak advertisement where a full scale woman is featured with a camera offering Kodak rolls...

"Anonymous", Studio Shehrazade, Saida, Lebanon
© » KADIST

Akram Zaatari

1970

“People often asked if they could pose with the Kodak advertisement where a full scale woman is featured with a camera offering Kodak rolls...