Art Rotterdam 2023

During Art Rotterdam we present a solo booth with works by Dodi Espinosa (Mexico City, 1985). Statues Also Die, a French film from 1953 is the reference for Espinosa's new show. The audiovisual essay reflects on how it’s possible for art to die and be rendered meaningless over time and space in the context of historical African art. The black and white movie begins with the quote:

"When men die, they enter into history. When statues die, they enter into art. This botany of death is what we call culture."

Statues Also Die is the inspiration for a new series of ritualistic ceramic masks to be presented by the artist during Art Rotterdam. Espinosa embraces his pre-Hispanic roots, art and mythology through the pieces, tracing a parallel narrative to the African story told in the film. The artist's ritual objects refer to altered states of mind, life and dead, and the  capacity to embody sacred animal entities, creating a visionary world between  ancestral American indigenous knowledge and contemporary art. He plays with conceptions of what is art and what is utilitarian; what happens  when a statue loses its original significance and becomes a museum object?

Espinosa has a deep relation with archeology, he was born in Mexico city and  grew up next to the pyramids of Teotihuacan. Growing up surrounded by  archeological items marked his relation to arts and plasticity. Espinosa is now  based in Antwerp. He often reflects on his position as an artist with a Latin  American background based in Europe. His hybrid and unexpected path  shows in his eclectic language which has become a signature of his  creations. Cultural exchanges and paradoxes are at the core of his work. 

The masks are executed in red or black clay, sometimes incorporating other  materials and finished with a mix of paint, varnish, ultramarine pigment or  gold leaf. The scenography and display of the artworks in the booth contain  subtle references to codes used in ethnographic museography, for example  by using walnut wood pedestals with glass covers.