Spanish artist Jorge Conde (Barcelona, 1968) defines #esegalloquieremaíz as an artistic reflection on the events that occurred in Iguala (Mexico) the night of September 26th, 2014 and the morning after: the brutal murders of 6 people and the subsequent disappearance of 43 students from the historical Ayotzinapa Rural Normal School, also known as "normalistas".
This tragic event has caused great impact on the international public opinion and, beyond its atrocity and local peculiarities, reveals some problems common to most contemporary societies: corruption, greed, violence, impunity, the murky relationship between political power, organized crime and the media, crisis of values, opacity and institutional weakness, questionable separation of powers, devalued and slow implementation of justice, inequality, collective forgetfulness, etc.
The project title, "Ese gallo quiere maíz" (That Rooster Wants Some Corn) is a literal quote attributed to Mexican general and dictator Porfirio Diaz (1830-1915) who, when upset by the behavior of his detractors and political rivals, ordered to silence them with cash or bullets.
The artist, who lived in Mexico for a five-year period, has adapted some of his works to this theme and created some others specifically for this exhibition, which is born with a thought-provoking, constructive spirit.
Likewise, #esegalloquieremaíz project is an artistic artifact concerned with the social function of art, its ability to raise awareness and promote useful debates for the public at large. To do this, Jorge Conde addresses the tragedy of Ayotzinapa through a hybrid strategy designed to create synergies and complicities between reality and fiction, using techniques and resources from seemingly unrelated fields such as the visual arts (photography, video and installation), journalism (truthful and partially false narratives), political propaganda (prefabricated storytelling) and historiography (compilations, archival footage and documents).
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Photos: © Noelia García 2015
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ARTIST: Jorge Conde
CURATORS: Aida Marín, Anna M. Andevert, Beatriz Luque & Magda Guillén
PLACE: Universitat Rovira i Virgili – URV (Campus Catalunya), Tarragona
DATES: February 11th - March 2nd, 2015
OPENING: Wednesday, February 5.30pm.
TIMING:
-5.30pm. Presentation and Lecture (Sala de Graus URV).
Presenters: Antonio Salcedo (Aula d’Art URV coordinator), Jorge Conde (visual artist), Aida Marín, Anna M. Andevert, Beatriz Luque, Magda Guillén (curators).
-6pm. Vernissage. Sala de Graus URV
-6.15pm. Exhibition opening. CRAI URV (Main library).
SPONSORED BY: Aula d'Art | Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) | Espai CRAI | "El Teler de Llum" Art Center, Tarragona
