Project
Carlos Motta: History's Backrooms
Carlos Motta: History’s Backrooms published by SKIRA Editore is the first comprehensive monograph of the work of Carlos Motta—one of Colombia’s most recognized and celebrated contemporary artists—whose art practice explores alternative narratives regarding marginalized communities and identities in the context of social and political histories. This anthological volume brings together close to twenty years of his work, from the artist’s early experiments in drawing, photography, and performance in the late 90s, to his installations based on documentary and archival research in the 2000s, until his most recent incursions in poetic filmmaking and installations that deal with pre-Hispanic and colonial sexualities. Motta’s work has developed along two clear lines: One that investigates political and social injustices in Colombia and Latin America, with an emphasis and critique of democracy as a form of government and the effects of the Cold War in the region; and another where the artist re-articulates historical narratives around sexuality and gender from Colonial times until the present.
Carlos Motta: History’s Backrooms includes a preface by Colombian art historian Victor Manuel Rodríguez; an introductory essay by Peruvian writer and curator Miguel A. López; focus essays by Argentinian writer and curator Andrea Giunta and Dutch art historian and curator Hendrik Folkerts; an interview with the artist by Spanish curator Agustín Pérez Rubio; and a selection of Carlos Motta’s artist writings from the 1990s until the present.
Book Launch & Panel Discussion
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA)
Co-presented with P.P.O.W. Gallery
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
Panelists presented about a particular piece or body of work by Carlos Motta, followed by a dialogue with the artist and other panelists.
Panelists:
Hendrik Folkerts
Dittmer Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art, Art Institute of Chicago
Eungie Joo
Curator of Contemporary Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Miguel A. Lopez
Co-Director / Chief Curator, TEOR/ética, San José, Costa Rica
Moderator:
Roya Amirsoleymani
Artistic Director & Curator of Public Engagement, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art.
