Mesoamericana (new grand civilizations), Economic activities

2016 - Drawing & Print (Drawing & Print)

26.77H x 45.66W inches

Edgardo Aragón

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Mesoamericana (Economic activities) is part of a larger project titled Mesoamerica: The Hurricane Effect, which includes a video as well as series of hand drawn maps -based on historical cartography- that examine the effects of foreign power in Mexico today. Mesoamerica was home to a rich civilization that emerged around 10,000 years BC and out of which grew the rich Maya, Aztec and Zapotec cultures, among many others. These cultures were destroyed by the Spanish, who arrived in the 15th and 16th centuries. Today, “Mesoamerica” is also the short name for a multi-million dollar development project that is officially called the Mesoamerican Integration and Development Project and is financed and run by the United States. However, due to rampant corruption at all levels, the project doesn’t benefit the poor communities and instead helps foreign companies that operate in the region. Mesoamericana (Economic activities) speaks about how drugs are representing a large part of the global economic system. Maps depict various countries in Latin America via historical maps onto which the artists draw fantastical and menacing creatures as well as as pointing towards economic and political dependencies and realities as the result of colonial rule and contemporary political corruption.

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Edgardo Aragón’s works employ reenactment to reflect the everyday reality of rural Mexico. Using narratives inspired by the particularities of their respective local contexts, Aragón evokes events—some with very violent undertones—and shapes them into scenes molded by landscapes. His work also addresses points of familial and social inheritance that are conditioned by the local environment, creating a personal body of work recounted through poetic narratives. Each piece is a story slowly told—a description of a memory or a reconstruction of a personal experience—that shows some of the darker sides of Mexico’s social and economic realities.

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Colors:

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• economy.n.01
• imperialism.n.01
• exploitation.n.01
• globalization.n.01
• inequality.n.01
• geopolitics.n.01