Sculpture (Sculpture)

In 1872, a German scientist, Sir Julius von Haast, found the fossilized remains of a giant bird in New Zealand, that was soon connected to the Maori legend of the Hokioi. The Maori folklore recounts the story of an eagle of immense proportions that was said to be capable of devouring human beings. The bones uncovered by the scientist included a femur, one rib, and two claws.

Painting (Painting)

Jorge de León most well-known work was a radical gesture, and one of his earliest artworks: in his 2000 performance, The Circle, de León sewed his own mouth closed as a protest against the silencing of citizens in the face of social corruption. His Cristal series is more demure, but follows a similar theme. In these works, delicate, web-like lines emerge against dark backgrounds, creating orbs of negative space, pitch black.

Installation (Installation)

Easy to fold and carry, Jorge González’s Banquetas Chéveres (Chéveres Stools) embody the nomadic and flexible nature of the Escuela de Oficios. González’s work employs a modernist language while paying homage to artisanal techniques specific to Puerto Rico and the Indigenous knowledge, people, and histories of the Carribean. Reinterpreting the furniture line ArKlu (1945-1948) conceived by the architects Stephen Arneson and Henry Klumb, the stools were conceived in collaboration with various artisans in Puerto Rico–Eustaquio Alers, a weaver from Aguadilla, Joe Hernández from Ciales, and MAOF from San Juan, a contemporary wood-salvaging collective, among others.

Photography (Photography)

Invited in 2007 to the Museum Folkwang in Essen (Germany), Simon Starling questioned its history: known for its collections and particularly for its early engagement in favor of modern art (including the acquisition and exhibition of works by Cézanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Matisse), then destroyed during the Second World War, the museum was pillaged for its masterpieces of ‘degenerate art’ by the nazis. Starling found photographs of a hang dating back to 1929, taken by Albert Renger-Patzsch, the German New Objectivity photographer. Firstly, he researched the artworks that were presented then which for the most part had been restituted or acquired by private collectors after the war.

Sculpture (Sculpture)

AIDS Ring by General Idea is a cast metal ring, which takes as its basis Robert Indiana’s iconic “LOVE” design, appropriating its pop aesthetic, and totalizing, simplistic universal messaging to instead emphasize the severity of the AIDS epidemic that occurred in the 1970s. This visual detournement of Indiana’s sculpture into the form of a ring is an indictment of pop art’s apolitical nature, as well as of its increasingly commodified status. General Idea instead proposes that art’s expansive platform for messaging be used to spread awareness and create accountability for political negligence of the AIDS epidemic.

Drawing & Print (Drawing & Print)

La Masacre de el Aro (The Massacre of El Aro) by Jorge Julián Aristizábal refers to a massacre in Colombia which occurred on October 22, 1997 in the municipality of Ituango, Department of Antioquia. On this day, 15 individuals accused of being leftist supporters of FARC were massacred by paramilitary groups. Perpetrators also raped women, burned down 43 houses, stole cattle and forcibly displaced 900 people.