Gloom

Almost in unison with the National Protest Days that began on May 11, 1983 as civil demonstrations against the Pinochet dictatorship, children of exiles and young people from different disciplines and socioeconomic strata created “new wave” parties in secret. Artistic encounters where music, dance, theater, performance, fashion and visual arts intersect through self-management.  Well-known are spaces such as El Trolley (1983-1988) and the international garage Matucana 19 (1985-1991), which, promoted by Pablo Lavín and the Rosa Brothers and Jordi Lloret respectively, open these locations to neighbors, cogoteros, transvestites, students, artists and anyone who would like to contribute to improving the climate with their artistic knowledge without exclusion.  

From there, a self-taught generation emerges that shares its instruments, video cameras, and learns about lighting, sound, graphics, and theatrical design. Organize communal pots, and work hard to put up works and concerts that finance their next steps with a sense of belonging. 

That spirit of collaboration and interdiscipline is what the artist Iván Navarro (Santiago, 1972) and his label Hueso Records (Brooklyn, 2005) want to rescue during the exhibition Penumbra. Where cultural institutions, art and music projects, designers, DJs, artists and journalists make possible this exhibition that connects with lighting works, records, videos, concerts and conversations in the context of the 17th Santiago Media Arts Biennial.  "I applaud the power of that generation that brought together poetry, music, crafts, dance, theater and visual arts and managed to flow together. I believe it is the most genuine and effective way to express art, and it takes precedence over the colonizing and European model of exhibiting within "a white cube". A format that came to us from traditional museums where artistic fields tend to be separated. With Penumbra I try to remember that spirit where everything mixes, everyone collaborates and bring back creations that did not see the light of day during the dictatorship," he comments. Navarro. 

Everything will come together in the GAM Visual Arts Room, with sculptures, objects, video clips and performances by the renowned Chilean artist, among which are the iconic installations “Linterna: I am not from here, I am not from there” (2006), “Enterrar y Callar” (2013), “Frándula de charlatans” (2013), “Break, Crack, Crash, Crush, Hit, Kick, Knock, Scratch, Smack” (cymbal) (2017). The video “Tierra sin Tierra” (2023), the installation “The Music Room IV” (2017), in collaboration with the artist Courtney Smith and the Hueso Records collection “Compilation 1” (2023). 

"Iván Navarro's work uses light as a sculptural material and a critical device. Through neon structures and games of reflections, the artist generates illusions of depth that question the perception of space and, at the same time, activate political readings linked to memory. In this version of Hiperrealidades, his research dialogues with the curatorship by placing light as a sensitive mediation between the technological and the social," comments the curator of the 17 BAM - Hyperrealities, Nicolás Oyarce.