CONSTRUCTED OTHERNESS
96 Chalton Street, London NW1 1HJ. 10.Oct.2015 - 20 October 2015.
Artists: Amadeo Azar (Argentina), Rodrigo Torres, Pedro Varela (Brazil), Miler Lagos (Colombia), Daniel Alcalá, Omar Arcega, Marcos Castro, Héctor Falcón, Tania López Winkler, Quirarte + Ornelas (Mexico), José Vera Matos (Peru).
Curator: Lassla Esquivel
1. 1. otherness (noun) ˈʌðənɪs/
the quality or fact of being different. "the developed world has been celebrating Latin American art while altogether denying its otherness"
2. 2. Otherness is due less to the difference of the Other than to the point of view and the discourse of the person who perceives the Other as such.
–Jean-François Staszak
3. 3. Alterity or otherness, the philosophical principle of exchanging one's perspective for that of the "other"
The Other is often seen as the outsider, one that does not belong, or even an exotic. This exhibition presents a group of contemporary artists who communicate using a universalised language, but who have their own perspectives on the root of their common cultural heritage: Latin America.
Each artists' subjective vision is built and influenced by specific contexts (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru), which does not correspond to the constructed stereotype of Otherness. Yet, the urge to take into account the Other's gaze from peripheral histories and narratives for the sake of alterity persists. The drive of unfolding global ethos has rendered such labels that seem redundant and even democratised to capitalise on particular backgrounds.
Constructed Otherness lays out Latin American artists' standpoints and aims to make them visible to the spectator not through otherness, but instead proposes an immersion into these artists' own perspectives. The exhibition focuses on works in paper as a medium, seeing it as a response to the challenges faced by artists in an increasingly media-saturated world. As a curatorial choice, it seeks to enhance this group of artists' motivations when engaging with key practices and establishing their own conversations.