"In January of last year, as the United States welcomed back the Trump administration, Venezuelan artist Juan Luis Landaeta began to feel like the walls were closing in on him. The president had announced his decision to cancel Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of Venezuelan migrants, effective November 7th, and Landaeta recalls feeling trapped, almost petrified, in a transparent cage the size of the United States."
"Seeking to express what he was feeling, he turned to the canvas, and what seemed vague began to take shape in Confinement is a Vocabulary, his new exhibition opening at UNAM's Chicago campus starting November 13. In it, Landaeta explores, using silhouettes and vibrant colors characteristic of pop culture, scenes that portray the threats faced by migrants in the United States."
"I decided to talk about myself and what was happening to me, he says. His work displays a dissonance between color and the scenes depicted. The pieces in this collection are a compendium of bodies threatened by sharp objects, pawed at by claws, or enclosed in large glass boxes. They are, however, painted in colors like the pink of Princess Aurora's dress in Sleeping Beauty, the blue of Superman, or the red of Elmo from Sesame Street."
Juan Luis Landaeta felt trapped after the U.S. announced cancellation of Temporary Protected Status for thousands of Venezuelan migrants. An expired passport, the absence of a Venezuelan consulate in New York, and distant family compounded the sense of confinement. Landaeta translated that feeling into paintings collected as Confinement is a Vocabulary, using silhouettes and vibrant pop-culture colors. The artworks juxtapose cheerful hues with violent imagery: bodies threatened by sharp objects, pawed by claws, or enclosed in large glass boxes. Colors reference Princess Aurora pink, Superman blue, and Elmo red as a deliberate, dissonant device to represent hidden threats facing migrants.
Read at english.elpais.com
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