The Guayaquil native (from the heart because he was born in Los Angeles) Juan Huerta Coello he had to live five years in the United States to realize what it meant to be Ecuadorian. “Migrating there made me reflect on where I come from,” it says. Looking from afar, like a migrant, he realized the vision that was held towards his country of origin. “It seemed to me that there was an ignorant and mocking look”maintains the visual artist, who presents in onder space his first solo exhibition called The Rubble.
The sample brings together a reading that has been addressing three years ago, in which traditions, idiosyncrasies, beliefs, labor exploitation, which it considers is professed in Ecuador, are combined; all this with a satirical touch in each of his works. “These are reflections that I have been having in front of my own history, in front of my family”, holds.
In one of his pieces, some tourist guides that he has bought, been given as a gift or stolen from hotels are nailed to pictures with Looney Tunes and Disney characters in the background. The young artist explains that the way of collecting Ecuadorian culture and his people in these books caught his attention. “I am very interested that these tourist guides have these messages that practically tell you to come see this exotic culture (…). The background of the cartoons represents the attitude that I feel that many people from the first world have towards Ecuador”, points out.
In another, he picks up the violence and black humor with which the harsh realities in the country are faced. Some 45mm bullets are strongly impregnated between broken glass scattered on a colorful painting, in its background some Disney figures can be distinguished again and the character of Juan Pueblo.
While in a gallery space, sand and ceramic slippers wait on the floor, as if someone had forgotten them. “In a class I had read that people cross the border in sneakers, not shoes… that’s why there are a lot of sneakers scattered around the desert, since the shoes are not detected by the motion sensors”mentions.
in his series job fatigue, shows some photographs in which you can see some wooden or corrugated steel stakes coming out of the shoes. This work was inspired by his migrant family, by the excessive workload carried out by migrants. “I saw how they worked so hard, they worked 10 hours a day, 50 hours a week. It was like seeing that the human being becomes an extension of his work, an extension of his work”, indicates.
He also makes a look towards his person, in a painting in purple tones, he presents his self-portrait. It is a photo that he took from his first passport, with which he wanted to portray the loss of innocence. On the painting there are some black shapes, which the 23-year-old artist explains: “They denote that fragmentation of identity with childhood traumas”.
the rubble will be open until Saturday January 19 in the gallery located in the 230 Mendiburo Street and Baquerizo Moreno, on the second floor. The schedule in which the exhibition can be visited is from 14:00 to 18:30. Free entrance. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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