Catalogue > At random

The video, set in Barcelona, shows the artist performing an iconoclastic action. During the night, using fire and a bottle of absinth, Argote sets on fire a statue representing a bishop showing the way to a native. The statue is on the pedestal of the Columbus monument, in the Christopher Columbus circle at the end of the Rambla, close to the harbour. By setting this symbol on fire, the artist shows all his disapproval of the European vision of colonisation, in which the colon is a hero.

Ivan Argote is Colombian artist who lives and works in Paris, Argote (31) deals with the way that man relates with the myriad changes that take place daily in the historical, economic, political and moral realms. His aim is to question the role of subjectivity in the revision of these concepts. Argote involves the body, and emotions in the construction of his thinking, and develops methods to generate reflexion about the way we construct certainty in relation with politics and history. By creating interventions and performances for the public space, which are sometimes further developed in the format of films and installations, the artist explores the city as a space of transformation. His works has been shown in several cities all around the world, including: Intersections, Cisneros Fountanals Foundation, Miami, 2015; Between the Pessimism of the Intellect and the Optimism of the Will, 5th Thessaloniki Biennale, Thessaloniki, 2015; Levitate, Museum Quartier, Vienna, 2015; L’éloge de l’heure, MUDAC, Lausanne, 2015; Reddish Blue (solo), DT Project, Brussels, 2014; Let’s write a history of hopes (solo), Galeria Vermelho, Sao Paulo, 2014; Strengthlessness(solo), Galerie Perrotin, Paris, 2014; La Estrategia (solo), Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2013); Un millon de amigos (solo), Galeria ADN, Barcelona (2013); Tectonic, Moving Museum, Dubai (2013); Los irrespetuosos, Museo Carrilo Gil, México DF (2013); 30th Sao Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo (2012); Sin heroísmos, por favor (solo), CA2M, Madrid (2012); Girarse, Joan Miró Fundation, Barcelona (2012), among others.