Doris Salcedo...
12:21 p.m.“I love Walter Benjamin’s idea of the Angel of History. He stares at destruction, and suddenly a wind of progress takes the angel away. My case is the opposite: Nothing takes me away.”
Doris Salcedo
Doris Salcedo, the Colombian artist to whom we dedicate this post, tells the stories of those who have disappeared, of those who lost everything and those who have died. Her installations show, even with a certain beauty, what has been destroyed, stories of violence hidden in objects that were left as witnesses of those unknown beings. However, Salcedo remains hopeful through such catastrophic scenarios.
Atrabiliarios, by Doris Salcedo (1992-2003)
Materials: shoes, animal tissue and surgical thread
In Atrabiliarios she presents used shoes in niches, trapped to the walls of the gallery. These niches are covered with the dried skin of cows’ bladders which have been sewn to the wall. The artwork forces us to connect with the absences, since we know those shoes belonged to the departed.
Plegaria Muda, by Doris Salcedo (2008-2010)
Materials: wood, metal, earth, grass and concrete.
Untitled, by Doris Salcedo (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2008)
Materials: wood, concrete, steel and clothing
The exhibition is presented at the Beyeler Foundation in Basel, Switzerland and it occupies several galleries with its impressive montage. After the visit, something very particular happens which Salcedo defines like this: “Art can gives us hope against the ‘never-ending catastrophe’ and my job in this world is to give back some dignity to the victims. And that can only be achieved through beauty.”
PS: Doris Salcedo’s artworks have reached sky-high prices in the art market. Once a fellow Colombian told me how much money was given to the families of the victims whose shoes she used for her installation. At least that debt was repaired.
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