Orozco, Ariel

IN THE GALLERY

Contrapeso shows the image of a man against the sky, holding a flagpole, stemming his body horizontally into the air. It is a photographic document of the artist performing his own flag, actually becoming the flag himself. Contrapeso aesthetically confronts the complex relationship between the nation and the individual, of the (in)divisibility of sovereignty. The half-naked, sun-tanned, muscular body evokes numerous glorifications of the worker appearing throughout Western art history. However, the viewer learns that the artist had to practice for months in order to attain the physical fitness required to perform the flag for one second, just long enough for the photograph to be taken. Contrapeso then functions as a critique of the politics of representation.

Contrapeso 2003

C-print

27 1/2” x 19 1/2”

Courtesy Myto Gallery, Mexico City