Contemporary Art
My works have been selected in various years for the international art competition "Juannio - Bienal de arte contemporáneo". Out of hundreds of works from Latin American artists there are selected only 40 artworks to be exposed and auctioned in Guatemala City.
Clavále un título - give it a title!
This object was selected by the Juannio jury in 2018. It is related to the guatemalan word "clavo" which means "nail", but can also mean "problem". "To nail something" also means "to fix" something or give a name for something. The title and the concept of the work have various meanings and indicate a paradox situation.
How did the nails get into the hammer? How could you get them out again? What do the nails (problems) represent in the guatemalan case? Who or what is the hammer?
Mano de Obra Barata I - Cheap workforce I
In 2017 I presented the two works "Mano de obra barata" in the final exhibition at Juannio.
They are related to the political context in the USA: Donald Trump won the presidential elections with the promise of building a great wall between Mexico and the USA. While he was ciritized widely by Latin American politicians, migrants and civil society, the then Guatemalan president Jimmy Morales said he would send "cheap workforce" to help building the wall.
The fotography of a trowel also talks about the importance of migrants (mostly from Latin America) for the US-economy and wealth. On the other hand, the so called "remesas" are very important for many Latin American economies.
Mano de Obra Barata - Cheap workforce
The foto of my guatemalan passport is intervened by the words "mano de obra barata" - "cheap workforce". It crosses the cover of the passport like a stamp - in the same way as it marks the life of millions of migrants in the USA and all over the world. The fact that someone is a migrant means way too often that he or she is reduced to "cheap workforce", being more vulnerable than other people.
La nueva semántica guatemalteca - the new guatemalan semantics
The work "La nueva semántica guatemalteca" (The new guatemalan semantics) was selected by the jury of Juannio in 2016.
It focuses on the systemic corruption in Guatemala. In the years 2015 and 2016 a network of corruption by very high ranking guatemalan politicans was dismantled, including the then president, vice-president and some ministers. They systematically stole tax incomes. The network was called "la línea" - the line. Corruption changed the semantics of the word "la línea" for Guatemala. It is no longer just a "series of points on a piece of paper" but is synonym of the worst corruption scandal ever discovered in guatemalan history.
Alzheimer democrático
Tin roof
2019
"They gave me this in exchange for my vote - and they made themselves millionaires."
Colonizadores 2.0
Textile
2018
A "Huipil" is the traditional indigenous blouse for women in Guatemala. The are handwoven and decorated with traditional figures. The history of huipiles is closely related with the colonization of Central America since 1492. Now there are new symbols that conquer our lives.