This exhibition takes its title, The Other Protagonist of the Night, from a body of work by Enrique L\u00f3pez Llamas, a young, multidisciplinary artist from Mexico. Also serving as the final work to punctuate the themes touched on throughout the show, the centerpiece of this installation is a series of sixteen video vignettes wherein the artist himself is both protagonist and victim in narratives relating to the fragile and insecure experiences of coming of age; of, supposedly, becoming a \u2018man\u2019. Tapping into his extensive interest in art history and popular culture, his performances feature generous portions of humorous and disturbing scenes, while offering serious allegories about the realities of the human condition. What might first appear to be irony quickly resonates because of our ability to relate to its truth as we reflect on our own life experiences. His is a current generational perspective revealing human progress towards sensitivities we might not have had previously. Inspired by the rollercoaster of reactions elicited by L\u00f3pez Llamas\u2019 extreme performances, the contemporary representation of the human figure is the focus of this exhibition: the antihero in the physical sense, yet the admirably heroic in spirit.<\/p>\n
The Other Protagonist of the Night also finds inspiration from an essay written by Carlos Monsiv\u00e1is with the same title (to which L\u00f3pez Llamas also makes his reference), contained in the sleeve of an album that records one of the most memorable evenings in pop-performance history, an all-night, nine-hour live performance by Juan Gabriel in Mexico City. Dubbed \u2018The Night Mexico did not Sleep\u2019, Monsiv\u00e1is turns his focus away from the iconic performer, who needed no further introduction, and onto the audience: \u201cthe most plural and multigenerational public that a popular artist has known in Mexico\u2026.\u201d The narrative of our exhibition also eschews the iconic as it presents the human figure, and instead, adjusts its gaze towards the ordinary and the \u2018other\u2019, in all their diversity, to create a spirit of empathy and inclusion, where empty pedestals and pieces of furniture serve as invitations for the viewers to imagine their own heroes, and where, in fact, mirrors might include themselves.<\/p>\n
The Other Protagonist of the Night invites each individual to be that figure under scrutiny. When, at the end of each day, we stand alone, stripped of the masks and armors we don to face the difficult world we inhabit, a fragile and imperfect creature is revealed, regardless of how much muscle or wealth we bestow upon it. And what we come to realize is that the greatest of human strengths lies in courage, perseverance and humility to face it all again the next day, in spite of all its challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201c…art must carry man’s craving for the ideal, must be an expression of his reaching out towards it; that art must give man hope and faith. And the more hopeless the world in the artist’s version, the more clearly, perhaps, must we see the ideal that stands in opposition – otherwise life becomes impossible! Art symbolizes the meaning of our existence.\u201d – Andrei Tarkovsky, \u2018Sculpting in Time\u2019<\/p>\n
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Artists:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jordi Alcaraz<\/p>\n Jim Amaral<\/p>\n Martha Atienza<\/p>\n Ed Atkins<\/p>\n Leilah Babirye<\/p>\n Stephan Balkenhol<\/p>\n David Bestu\u00e9<\/p>\n Norbert Bisky<\/p>\n Anna & Bernhard Bl\u00fcme<\/p>\n Mathieu Bonardet<\/p>\n Joan Brossa<\/p>\n Michael B\u00fchler-Rose<\/p>\n Carlos Bunga<\/p>\n Tom Burr<\/p>\n Werner B\u00fcttner<\/p>\n James Castle<\/p>\n Mart\u00ed Cormand<\/p>\n John Dugdale<\/p>\n Pepe Espali\u00fa<\/p>\n Galli<\/p>\n Alberto Giacometti<\/p>\n Camilo Godoy<\/p>\n Jason Gringler<\/p>\n Donna Huanca<\/p>\n Stephen Irwin<\/p>\n Ji\u0159i Kol\u00e1\u0159<\/p>\n Kang Seung Lee<\/p>\n Enrique L\u00f3pez Llamas<\/p>\n Mateo Lopez<\/p>\n Robert Mapplethorpe<\/p>\n Martin Margiela<\/p>\n Sean Mellyn<\/p>\n Pierre Molinier<\/p>\n Juan Mu\u00f1oz<\/p>\n Navid Nuur<\/p>\n Berenice Olmedo<\/p>\n Murat \u00d6nen<\/p>\n Prinz Gholam<\/p>\n Robin Rhode<\/p>\n Gerhard Richter<\/p>\n Miguel \u00c1ngel Rojas<\/p>\n Chloe Royer<\/p>\n R.H. Quaytman<\/p>\n Paul Mpagi Sepuya<\/p>\n Hugh Steers<\/p>\n Sam Taylor-Johnson<\/p>\n Wolfgang Tillmans<\/p>\n Franz Erhard Walther<\/p>\n Franz West<\/p>\n Erwin Wurm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This exhibition takes its title, The Other Protagonist of the Night, from a body of work by Enrique L\u00f3pez Llamas, a young, multidisciplinary artist from Mexico. Also serving as the final work to punctuate the themes touched on throughout the show, the centerpiece of this installation is a series of sixteen video vignettes wherein the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3069,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":[],"categorias_expos":[15],"class_list":["post-3058","exposiciones","type-exposiciones","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categorias_expos-proximas"],"yoast_head":"\n