Through his sculptures, installations, films, and performances, Iván Argote has relentlessly investigated our relationship to power structures, belief systems, and urban spaces. In this episode of ‘Meet the Artists’, he reflects on Levitate (2022), a project developed during a residency at the Villa Medici, the French Academy in Rome. The bold action probes into the meaning of the ancient Flaminio Obelisk on Piazza del Popolo – one of the largest squares in the city – by creating an exact replica of the original monument and installing it at a different location. ‘What I’m doing in the square is just to make people see another situation,’ he says, ‘What if the obelisk is lying down, or is moving?’ With this piece, Argote transforms the silent monument’s original function in order to propose a new historical narrative and challenge the accepted dynamics of public spaces.
Iván Argote was recently nominated for the Marcel Duchamp Prize 2022. He is represented by Perrotin (Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo, Dubai).
The exhibition ‘Prémonitions’ will be on view at Perrotin, Paris, October 15 to December 17, 2022.
Iván Argote (@ivan_argote)
Perrotin (@galerieperrotin)
Film
Director: Nicolò Terraneo
Director of Photography: Francesco Cantoro
Producer: Leonardo Notte
Editor: Emanuele Canto
Sound Designer: Franco Casperini
Colour: Luca Scarpellini
Nowness
Creative Director: Bunny Kinney
Managing Director: Gavin Humphries
Commissioning Director: Noor Miah
Video Editor: Harry Bowely
Art Basel
Executive Editor: Coline Milliard
Editor: Patrick Steffen
Video Commissioner: Jeanne-Salomé Rochat
Creative Producer: Akiel Gallina
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