Iván Argote presents a new solo exhibition at Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France.
Deep Affection is an exhibition composed as a multi dimensional essay. It brings together sculptures, photographs, illustration, texts and films by Argote in a “poetic, sociological and political discussion on our relationship with history and our relationship with ‘the other.”
In his film work As far as we could get, Argote weaves together narratives from two cities that are exact antipodes - that is, on exact opposite sides of the earth from one another. Neiva in Colombia and Palembang in Indonesia are one of only six pairs of cities worldwide which are exact antipodes. The film reveals the cultural links and resonances between the two places, and in doing so critiques hegemonic narratives of self and other. In Setting up a system, Argote examines the ancient Greek origins of the concept of antipode and the ways in which the concept has changed as it has moved through centuries and contexts.
A theme running through the exhibition is the figure of the ‘other’. L’idée de l’autre shows images from The Nuremberg Chronicle, a 1493 encyclopedia which depicts the inhabitants of antipodes as deformed and with inverted feet, alongside photographs from the two antipode cities. The photographs are annotated with observations on the city’s bizarre and banal narratives and formations.In Fièrement différents Argote places small bronze sculptures with inverted feet around the exhibition.
A further theme is the link between city structures and flesh bodies. Skin is a series in which layers of cement are interspersed with slogans, building layers of the skin of the city. The work is a comment on the intimacy between people and cities, the strong link between notions of body and of city, and the material force of political action. Meanwhile About a place covers the gallery with pink concrete slabs engraved with poems and thoughts. Like all of Argote’s work, the piece is both poetic and political, intimate and expansive. It questions the space in which it is installed.
These and other works and themes created by Iván Argote can be seen at PERROTIN, 76 rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris, France, until 28 July.
