DAMIÁN ORTEGA, SCULPTOR
“ In Mexico we have a very deep relationship with murals and the art of the revolution .”
Damian Ortega is a Mexican sculptor known for his installations, sculptures, videos, and performance pieces. He injects humor into his work by deconstructing familiar objects to alter their functions and transform them into new experiences. Through this reinterpretation, Ortega comments on issues and themes related to capitalism, poverty, globalization, westernization, and immigration.
Born in Mexico City in 1967, Ortega had no formal art education and dropped out of school altogether at sixteen, during a period of economic and politic difficulties in Mexico, to become a political cartoonist, pairing wit with incisive observations against the troubled political, social, and economic conditions of the country.
“I think that for the generation of artists in Mexico which I’m part of, it was very important to reject the academic idea of the artist.”
In the late 1980s, Ortega joined an experimental art group led by sculptor, photographer, and rising star in Mexican art, Gabriel Orozco. Orozco was becoming one of the most influential artists of his day, and Ortega found working with him and the other artists stimulating. “The school was really important,” he said. “Later I realised it was highly experimental, and I had been something of a guinea pig.” It was in this environment that his own artistic direction began to emerge.
Through the influence of Orozco and the discovery of Marcel Duchamp’s “ready made” approach to creating art, Ortega began to produce sculptures by reconstructing and reconstituting everyday objects. “You recycle objects, you regenerate them,” he said. “And give them a new life.” Through this process, he transformed the original meaning of the individual objects, creating a new narrative that emerged from the component parts.
“The ideas contained in the everyday objects around us made them far more interesting than marble or oil paint.”
One of his most acclaimed and celebrated works is ‘Cosmic Thing’ from 2002, in which he disassembled a Volkswagen Beetle and suspended each piece by wire. The effect was that of the car exploding in slow motion. The artwork hangs from the ceiling as a satirical statement about mass production, industrialization, and westernization. No longer the car it once was, it’s both familiar and unfamiliar.
“I realized that everything is a process. Just thinking is a process, talking is a process; and then I just try to clearly understand why an object is an action and only a physical thing.“
Ortega has had solo exhibitions in galleries all over the world, including the Museu da Arte Pampulha , in Brazil, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Tate Gallery of Modern Art in London, and at the São Paulo Biennial. He splits his private and work time between his studios—he has two—in Tlalpan near Mexico City, and Berlin.
HAPPENING
LIVE MUSIC
Saturday, August 21, from 7:30–10pm
“Dance Party”
With Summer Town
This versatile band performs folk, folk rock, Americana, country, and rock and roll. Great vocals and music combine to make Summer Town a must-see act! Featuring Fred Ghioto, Jared Ghioto, Bob Hagopian, Marvin Dolinger, Rose Martin, and Laura Celia. Come listen, dance, relax, socialize. This show will feature a special “Tribute to American Music” from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Bring your friends, make some new ones and join us on the dance floor!
Adults only. BYO refreshments. Table seating.
$20
THANK YOU