Tonatiuh (The Son of the Sun)
2018 - Photography (Photography)
76.2 x 95.25 cm
Juan Brenner
The photographic series Tonatiuh (The Son of the Sun) by Juan Brenner is an in-depth visual study of current Guatemalan society from the perspective of miscegenation and the incalculable consequences of the Spanish conquest. Establishing Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado as a central figure, not only in the conquest of Guatemala, but also in the formation of a complex, segregated society, Brenner proposes a series of images that re-establish the lens through which to consider both a historical and contemporary Guatemala. Tonatiuh is a visual essay on the state of a country on the verge of failure and its incapacity to address its own history and learn from it. In the photograph Mano de chamán the artist zero’s in on the weathered and bejeweled hand of a man, clasping a small, empty bottle. Mecapal en Chuitinamit features a bundle of firewood and wool blanket poised atop a rocky landscape. In Pedro de Alvarado #1 a person poses in the elaborately embroidered attire of the infamous conquistador, complete with a mask, feathered hat, and sword. The group of images capture the complexities of cultural hybridization and, more poignantly, the way power, hierarchical structures, and inequality are instrumentally reproduced through time. The images in the series suggest that rather than an inevitable event, the Spanish conquest was a deliberate effort to gain territory and enslave a population in order to uphold a power system. With a critical eye and empathy for its subjects, these photographs provide not only a thorough if sometimes painful portrait of Guatemala, but also an interpretation of the consequences of the conquest and long-standing colonial systems.
Born and raised in Guatemala, photographer Juan Brenner spent ten years in New York City working in the fashion industry before returning to his home country in 2008. With a propensity for thorough planning and research, his works have explored topics of social impact in Central America, like violence, gender issues, and migration. He is also a founding member of Proyectos Ultravioleta in Guatemala City.
Colors:
Related works sharing similar palette
© » KADIST
Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis
2022Five Hundred Twenty-Four, a single-channel video installation by Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis, features singers from over twenty Cleveland-area choirs counting numbers in an iterative process: one person sings “one”, then two people sing “two”, and so forth, to 524...
© » KADIST
Edgar Arceneaux
2006Untitled (Wheelchair Drawing) is a ten-foot photo transfer of the image of a wheelchair with burning embers in its seat...
© » KADIST
Charwei Tsai
2008Charwai Tsai’s photograph documents her Hermit Crab Project installation upon the construction site of gallery Sora in Tokyo...
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/uscannenberg/M45ZZ5XUD5ELFM2NFVJ4VVASYU.jpg)
© » ARTSJOURNAL
Stolen Syrian art funds international terrorism – Why aren’t we talking about it? – Annenberg Media Skip to main content Arts, Culture & Entertainment Stolen Syrian art funds international terrorism – Why aren’t we talking about it? Stories about the trafficking of blood antiquities across an international black market don’t often appear in the average person’s news diet; Stories about the terrorist organizations that these antiquity sales fund do, though...
© » KADIST
Elisheva Biernoff
2009In her recent work, Biernoff is interested in investigating fictions and fantasies embedded in the remnants of consumer culture (for example magazines) or through ephemera such as postcards and old photographs...
© » LE MONDE
A Bruxelles, les foires d’art prolifèrent avec la Brafa et Ceramic Cet article vous est offert Pour lire gratuitement cet article réservé aux abonnés, connectez-vous Se connecter Vous n'êtes pas inscrit sur Le Monde ? Inscrivez-vous gratuitement Article réservé aux abonnés Des œuvres de Kevin McNamee-Tweed et Anne Marie Laureys, de la galerie Tatjana Pieters, à la foire Ceramic, à Bruxelles, en janvier 2024...
© » KADIST
Victor & Sergiy Kochetov
1992Ukraine-Russia / Volleyball by Viktor and Sergiy Kochetov features a concrete monument of women volleyball players before the railway station in the village of Vodyanoye, Kharkiv region...
© » KADIST
Mahmoud Khaled
2009CAMARADERIE is a precursor to and a blueprint for Mahmoud Khaled’s later forays into queer aesthetics and modes of visual representation...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Weekly Picks: Malaysia (19–25 Nov 2018) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Weekly To Do November 19, 2018 KLEX 2018: Translucence , at various locations, 22–25 Nov An independent artist-run grassroots international festival of experimental film, video art and music...
© » NYTIMES LENS
Nancy Buirski, Award-Winning Documentary Filmmaker, Dies at 78 - The New York Times Movies | Nancy Buirski, Award-Winning Documentary Filmmaker, Dies at 78 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/01/movies/nancy-buirski-dead.html Share full article Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Nancy Buirski, an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker whose eye was honed as a still photographer and picture editor, died on Wednesday at her home in Manhattan...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Leading art collectors put pressure on Balai Seni Visual Negara | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles February 15, 2020 by Kathy Rowland In a first for Malaysian art history, a Collectors’ Petition signed by 55 private art collectors have warned Balai Seni Visual Negara that they will no longer be lending works from their collection to Balai in future unless Balai reinstates pieces removed from Ahmad Fuad Osman’s exhibition immediately ...
© » 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...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
“Medium Rare”, “God or Dog” and the makings of a Singaporean monster | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Courtesy of Asian Film Archive August 26, 2019 By Alfonse Chiu (1,700 words, 7-minute read) Content warning: References to violent or disturbing behaviour In late January 1981, the body of a young girl was discovered in a brown PVC bag about a metre high by a young man in Toa Payoh...
© » KADIST
Michael Rakowitz
2017The Ballad of Special Ops Cody by Michael Rakowitz is a serio-comic stop motion animated film in which an everyday African-American G...
© » 1854 PHOTOGRAPHY
How can photography heal past trauma? Ask a friend - 1854 Photography Subscribe latest Agenda Bookshelf Projects Industry Insights magazine Explore ANY ANSWERS FINE ART IN THE STUDIO PARENTHOOD ART & ACTIVISM FOR THE RECORD LANDSCAPE PICTURE THIS CREATIVE BRIEF GENDER & SEXUALITY MIXED MEDIA POWER & EMPOWERMENT DOCUMENTARY HOME & BELONGING ON LOCATION PORTRAITURE DECADE OF CHANGE HUMANITY & TECHNOLOGY OPINION THEN & NOW Explore Stories latest agenda bookshelf projects theme in focus industry insights magazine ANY ANSWERS FINE ART IN THE STUDIO PARENTHOOD ART & ACTIVISM FOR THE RECORD LANDSCAPE PICTURE THIS CREATIVE BRIEF GENDER & SEXUALITY MIXED MEDIA POWER & EMPOWERMENT DOCUMENTARY HOME & BELONGING ON LOCATION PORTRAITURE DECADE OF CHANGE HUMANITY & TECHNOLOGY OPINION THEN & NOW All images © Sophie Russell-Jeffrey Collaborating with her childhood friend, Sophie Russell-Jeffrey was able to access the most difficult episodes of their past – and push her portraiture into raw new territory Sophie Russell-Jeffrey was born and raised in Towcester, a small East Midlands town of around 10,000 people where “everyone knows everyone’s business”...