VICTORIAN TIMES
Historical backward and regressive politics
Artist:
Gonzalo García
Catalina Moreno
Carlos Velásquez
Guillermo Cárdenas
Jimmy Espinosa & Lina Prieto
Andrés Londoño
Otoniel Borda
Boris Pérez
The Victorian period saw reason and conservative tradition collide, particularly in the realms of prudery and industrial development. Besides the mechanical inventions that characterized the industrial era, important laws for the social treatment of the population, such as the protection of childhood, were decreed. This is an ambivalent aspect of social conversion, as children were used in several industries—a situation depicted in various literary works and illustrations.
This exhibition commemorates the machines and objects that surround our daily and urban spaces. The reference to the Victorian era is useful as it highlights the values of this period. Considering Colombia’s political atmosphere, it is relevant to signal this contingent moment in national history, in which mass media uses strategic campaigns to emphasize potential industrial development in the country. However, Colombia’s delayed adoption of the mining industry persists, even though first-world countries have de-industrialized and are investing significant resources in intellectual capital. Colombia continues to implement a contradictory and regressive practice that denies the application of technology and science as legitimate methods of economic advancement, perpetuating intellectual distortion that impedes the establishment of multilateral knowledge currently practised internationally in terms of industrialization and fostering ideas for social innovation and environmental balance.
This historical schism concerning globalization attracts several local and international artists who manifest a dynamic affinity for the industrial object. They re-elaborate its functions and cultural applications, bestowing upon it new connotations and significant layers of personal character. Some artists in this exhibition employ the discrepancies arising from historical dichotomy, while others focus on how animals and gestures have been “objectified.” In some cases, the mechanical object fuses with speculative artistic exercises, resulting in outcomes that seem intentionally opposed, although sometimes they simply follow creative intuition.
Another important element of this exhibition is its format: each artist intervenes in the space with their pieces. We place the artworks within the architecture of the space, inviting the spectator to interact with their senses—whether touch, sound, smell, or, of course, vision.
