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Solo exhibition of José Vera Matos “Una ambigüedad irresuelta” at the Contemporary Art Gallery of MALI
30.12.2022
In recent years, the work of Peruvian artist José Vera Matos has been characterized by the use of writing and calligraphic drawing to create works in which he explores different tensions derived from colonialism. This exhibition, his first solo presentation at the museum, takes its name from the central piece of the show, which was commissioned by the Contemporary Art Acquisitions Committee (CAAC) to be part of its collection.
It is a work in which the artist transcribes fragments of texts by different authors -among them renowned academics Luis Eduardo Valcarcel, Jose Maria Arguedas or Alberto Flores Galindo- who reflected, from different perspectives, on how to build a new national project and, therefore, how to get closer to a national identity emancipated from the colonial legacy.
The composition of the piece based on trapezoidal and staggered block figures seeks not only to evoke Inca reminiscences -and the well-known stone walls- but also to make the work a form of assembly, a jigsaw puzzle, still in the process of construction. Thus, Vera Matos questions how diverse approaches to Peru sometimes end up being phagocytized by a view of the country that privileges the monumental to build a narrative that often prevents the confrontation of a diverse and complex national reality.
If the piece on paper revolves around the urgency to build a national identity, the two twin sculptures that flank it, entitled Unresolved Ambiguity II, start from the opposite position. The pieces respond to a series of news that began to circulate during the construction boom in the city, in which it was made known how some real estate projects were affecting huacas in the city of Lima. These pieces are made with ‘Raschel’ mesh, which is used in buildings under construction to insulate and protect them. The levels of the tables allude to the different layers of the soil that are uncovered during excavations and how these contain archaeological remains, which on this occasion are represented with different ceramic pieces.
In “An unresolved ambiguity” Vera Matos explores the gap between the construction of a national identity based on the imaginary of a majestic pre-Columbian past, and the contradictory notion among some that this proud culture is often an impediment and obstacle to progress and economic growth.
It is a work in which the artist transcribes fragments of texts by different authors -among them renowned academics Luis Eduardo Valcarcel, Jose Maria Arguedas or Alberto Flores Galindo- who reflected, from different perspectives, on how to build a new national project and, therefore, how to get closer to a national identity emancipated from the colonial legacy.
The composition of the piece based on trapezoidal and staggered block figures seeks not only to evoke Inca reminiscences -and the well-known stone walls- but also to make the work a form of assembly, a jigsaw puzzle, still in the process of construction. Thus, Vera Matos questions how diverse approaches to Peru sometimes end up being phagocytized by a view of the country that privileges the monumental to build a narrative that often prevents the confrontation of a diverse and complex national reality.
If the piece on paper revolves around the urgency to build a national identity, the two twin sculptures that flank it, entitled Unresolved Ambiguity II, start from the opposite position. The pieces respond to a series of news that began to circulate during the construction boom in the city, in which it was made known how some real estate projects were affecting huacas in the city of Lima. These pieces are made with ‘Raschel’ mesh, which is used in buildings under construction to insulate and protect them. The levels of the tables allude to the different layers of the soil that are uncovered during excavations and how these contain archaeological remains, which on this occasion are represented with different ceramic pieces.
In “An unresolved ambiguity” Vera Matos explores the gap between the construction of a national identity based on the imaginary of a majestic pre-Columbian past, and the contradictory notion among some that this proud culture is often an impediment and obstacle to progress and economic growth.