El Patio
Sensory Spaces 15
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands
13 October 2018 - 13 January 2019
El Patio is a symmetrical structure consisting of concentric walls perforated by archways which surround a courtyard and wishing well, a reference to the archetypical Spanish courtyard incorporated in Latin American monasteries and houses. The installation plays with this inside-outside dichotomy in several ways. Calero created a series of faux surface paintings on paper with the idea that they would be photographed and converted into mass-produced posters, to be wheat-pasted as wallpaper. Half of the designs were printed in grayscale while the other half were made in full color, a nod to the process of translation present in the Cuzco School’s adaptation of black-and-white engravings into full-color paintings. The audience first encountered the outer walled structure covered in black-and-white patterns, then passed through arched portals to the inner realm to discover a universe of color. The tonalities and compositions covering the walls were reminiscent of those found in the hand-painted ornamentations of Latin American churches, as well as the amalgam of faux-painted materials such as tile and marble typically imitated by local craftsmen. Utilizing the presence and absence of color through configurations of wallpaper in the constructed, mirrored architecture raised questions of authenticity. Which was the original and which was the copy? Steeped in the contradictions and complexities of this past, Calero uses color, pattern and architectural volumes to create new, non-specific spaces that are open for reflection.
Notes on the Formation of Syncretic Canons in the Americas
Text by Sira Pizà Airas
Photos by Studio Hans Wilschut
