The so called indian culture „san augustín“ disappeared in the 14th century a.d. and left hardly any information for posterity. The oldest testimonies are from the 3rd millennium b.c. and from 1000 a.d. the decline began. In the meantime about 500 stone figures are known and mostly in connection with gravesites. Well, only the dead had survived.
In the museum “Antioquia” in Medellin, we discovered a picture that captivated us immediately. The shield next to the artists work mentioned “tomás ochoa / equador”. Great, we will also travel to this country, so I wrote him an e-mail. He answered right away and told, he would now live in medellin. Some days later we met him personally in his house and what we got to see made us speechless ….
small note: the pictures are made by using gun powder.
Statement by anibal vallejo:
In the last few years, my work has focused in the frontiers of painting and its possibilities.
Beyond the conventional and formal techniques, I seek new ways that integrates to the process in a reflection around the pictorial, to what is known as painting. Painting as a discipline that goes beyond preparing a canvas or a paper to apply pigments, but expands transcending the traditional limits.
In my most recent job, I focus on the relationship between the painting and the space that contains it which leads me to assume my paintings and drawings as objects, which opens a new perspective towards the three-dimensional, converting into sculptural pieces what used to be paintings but keep preserving pictorial parts as vestiges of what used to be two dimensional elements. In the body of the artwork where geometry is of prime importance, an exploration of space occurs from the compositions that are based on the shape and the color. Then it’s no longer about presenting pieces placed in a harmonic way in a place but in how they relate with the site affecting or altering the environment that receives them according to their distribution, installation or even illumination questioning the limits of the technique.
The artwork stands out for its economy of means and minimalist appearance.
18 years ago 20 tons of colored glass – designed by the german artist karlheinz oswald – had bee shipped by airfreight from germany to juigalpa. Just in time before the inauguration should take place the windows were installed and the church leaders could be convinced to send a photographer as well – me.
Now I came back to this place. The sexton was wagging his swab through the nave, talking on the phone, and I could barely convince him to open the gate to the gallery. I guess he couldn´t understand why german guys had come to look at church windows. In juigalpa, plastic figures of jesus are probably the true art in the favor of believers, especially when they are presented to the maximum extent of suffering.
Simón lives in a small community near the beach, 15 km. from the town of La Libertad in El Salvador and very close to all the surfing spots in the area. In his studio he does research, drawings and design for the large scale sculptures he builds, which are based on historical spacecrafts and capsules from the Cold War, but built using materials and methods of construction inspired in the informal architecture of the poor homes and constructions found in his native country. The sculptures themselves, because of their size, are usually built on site at the galleries that represent him in Vienna, Medellín and Guatemala and museums around the world, therefore his studio is mainly a research, laboratory and testing site. He showed us some of his past and upcoming projects, such as a huge space station based on the Soviet MIR, which will be built next April at a secret undisclosed site.
BIO
Simón Vega creates drawings, sculptural installations and happenings inspired in local markets, self-made-architecture and vendor carts found in Central America. These works parody Cold War space capsules, Mayan pyramids, Modernism’s iconic buildings and contemporary surveillance systems, creating a humorous fusion between first and third worlds. He has exhibited his work extensively in Europe, the United States, Central and South America. He has algo been a teacher for over ten years at three local universities, done numerous workshops, organized and curated exhibitions, co-edited the book Y.ES Collecting Contemporary El Salvador and is a member of the board at Y.ES Contemporary. He is founder and co-director of Estación Arte y Surf residency and cultural program. He lives in La Libertad, El Salvador.
www.simon-vega.blogspot.com and www.ciudades-perdidas.blogspot.com
We discovered his work in a great, guatemalan gallery for contemporary art and I asked him for a studio visit. He lives and works in el salvador, a country tortured by gang crime in central america. I squeeze our truck backwards into the dead end street where he lives, and his entire family welcomed us warmly. Boris presented his latest work and is pleased to be involved in my co_works project. Great. You can look forward to seeing what will be shown at the upcoming co_works exhibition in los angeles (april 2018).
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