Descanso, Iván Argote, 60th La Biennale di Venezia
“Descanso” is an anti-monument that invites us to think about a paradigm shift. It is a replica of the statue of Christopher Columbus in Plaza Colón in Madrid, fallen and completely invaded by invasive weeds and plants (local and migrant) that gradually devour the figure in a colorful and harmonious feast.
The installation is conceived as a territory of rest from this colonial and violent legacy, an invitation to leave behind anachronistic heroisms that celebrate the violence exercised on different peoples, and to give way to life and to a new era more in harmony with others and with nature.
As a Colombian artist, this installation has a special symbolism for me. Colombia etymologically means “the land of Columbus”. It was so named by the independence fighters (mostly white men descended from a European caste who after winning a long war against Spain, wanted to dedicate the country to Christopher Columbus, a great paradox like the rest of our history). This work, between sculpture and landscape, also functions as a kind of return: here is your hero, we no longer need him. We need instead a rest from that legacy, a rest from those heroisms of cruelty of yesterday.
“Descanso” is an anti-monument that invites us to think about a paradigm shift. It is a replica of the statue of Christopher Columbus in Plaza Colón in Madrid, fallen and completely invaded by invasive weeds and plants (local and migrant) that gradually devour the figure in a colorful and harmonious feast.
The installation is conceived as a territory of rest from this colonial and violent legacy, an invitation to leave behind anachronistic heroisms that celebrate the violence exercised on different peoples, and to give way to life and to a new era more in harmony with others and with nature.
As a Colombian artist, this installation has a special symbolism for me. Colombia etymologically means “the land of Columbus”. It was so named by the independence fighters (mostly white men descended from a European caste who after winning a long war against Spain, wanted to dedicate the country to Christopher Columbus, a great paradox like the rest of our history). This work, between sculpture and landscape, also functions as a kind of return: here is your hero, we no longer need him. We need instead a rest from that legacy, a rest from those heroisms of cruelty of yesterday.
“Descanso” is an anti-monument that invites us to think about a paradigm shift. It is a replica of the statue of Christopher Columbus in Plaza Colón in Madrid, fallen and completely invaded by invasive weeds and plants (local and migrant) that gradually devour the figure in a colorful and harmonious feast.
The installation is conceived as a territory of rest from this colonial and violent legacy, an invitation to leave behind anachronistic heroisms that celebrate the violence exercised on different peoples, and to give way to life and to a new era more in harmony with others and with nature.
As a Colombian artist, this installation has a special symbolism for me. Colombia etymologically means “the land of Columbus”. It was so named by the independence fighters (mostly white men descended from a European caste who after winning a long war against Spain, wanted to dedicate the country to Christopher Columbus, a great paradox like the rest of our history). This work, between sculpture and landscape, also functions as a kind of return: here is your hero, we no longer need him. We need instead a rest from that legacy, a rest from those heroisms of cruelty of yesterday.
“Descanso” is an anti-monument that invites us to think about a paradigm shift. It is a replica of the statue of Christopher Columbus in Plaza Colón in Madrid, fallen and completely invaded by invasive weeds and plants (local and migrant) that gradually devour the figure in a colorful and harmonious feast.
The installation is conceived as a territory of rest from this colonial and violent legacy, an invitation to leave behind anachronistic heroisms that celebrate the violence exercised on different peoples, and to give way to life and to a new era more in harmony with others and with nature.
As a Colombian artist, this installation has a special symbolism for me. Colombia etymologically means “the land of Columbus”. It was so named by the independence fighters (mostly white men descended from a European caste who after winning a long war against Spain, wanted to dedicate the country to Christopher Columbus, a great paradox like the rest of our history). This work, between sculpture and landscape, also functions as a kind of return: here is your hero, we no longer need him. We need instead a rest from that legacy, a rest from those heroisms of cruelty of yesterday.
“Descanso” is an anti-monument that invites us to think about a paradigm shift. It is a replica of the statue of Christopher Columbus in Plaza Colón in Madrid, fallen and completely invaded by invasive weeds and plants (local and migrant) that gradually devour the figure in a colorful and harmonious feast.
The installation is conceived as a territory of rest from this colonial and violent legacy, an invitation to leave behind anachronistic heroisms that celebrate the violence exercised on different peoples, and to give way to life and to a new era more in harmony with others and with nature.
As a Colombian artist, this installation has a special symbolism for me. Colombia etymologically means “the land of Columbus”. It was so named by the independence fighters (mostly white men descended from a European caste who after winning a long war against Spain, wanted to dedicate the country to Christopher Columbus, a great paradox like the rest of our history). This work, between sculpture and landscape, also functions as a kind of return: here is your hero, we no longer need him. We need instead a rest from that legacy, a rest from those heroisms of cruelty of yesterday.
“Descanso” is an anti-monument that invites us to think about a paradigm shift. It is a replica of the statue of Christopher Columbus in Plaza Colón in Madrid, fallen and completely invaded by invasive weeds and plants (local and migrant) that gradually devour the figure in a colorful and harmonious feast.
The installation is conceived as a territory of rest from this colonial and violent legacy, an invitation to leave behind anachronistic heroisms that celebrate the violence exercised on different peoples, and to give way to life and to a new era more in harmony with others and with nature.
As a Colombian artist, this installation has a special symbolism for me. Colombia etymologically means “the land of Columbus”. It was so named by the independence fighters (mostly white men descended from a European caste who after winning a long war against Spain, wanted to dedicate the country to Christopher Columbus, a great paradox like the rest of our history). This work, between sculpture and landscape, also functions as a kind of return: here is your hero, we no longer need him. We need instead a rest from that legacy, a rest from those heroisms of cruelty of yesterday.
Available artwork
Descanso, 2024
Limestone, invasive exotic plants and weeds.
12 m long x 4 m wide x 1.5 m high
393.70 in. long x 98.42 in. wide x 59.05 in. high
Price upon request