ARCO 2015

Solo Exhibition: Props for Eréndira
Stand 7SP15
Madrid, Spain

Props for Eréndira is inspired by a film script, written by Gabriel Garcia-Márquez in 1972. It tells the story of a teenage girl who accidentally burns down her grandmother’s house and is afterwards prostituted to repay all that was lost in the fire. The relationship to lost objects described in the story echoes my own relationship to material things that I experienced as a child refugee during the Guatemalan Civil War (1960-1996) and to the loss of my art and archives in June of 2013 when my family home burned down.

The objects in the installation appear to be freezer burned rather than burned by fire, reflecting the feeling of loss, which remains in one’s one mind rather than burn away into ashes. The sculptures are made from expanded polystyrene, which is ubiquitous and yet a material that is seen as meaningless and immaterial. The works are partially covered in transparent epoxy resin, which gives them strength, but does not try to hide their material reality.

The installation as a whole can be seen as a re-staging of Márquez’s story or a random gathering of objects, in the same way that objects rescued from a fire can have a sense of the arbitrary. I would hope that these objects will be separated and scattered after the installation, to find their own distinct possibilities, rather than remain together as a moment”. (Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa)

Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa (was born in 1978 in Guatemala City. Holds a BFA from Emily Carr University and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Guatemalan civil war (1960-96) is a recurring subject in his work, which although often softened by an absurd and humorous approach, fails to conceal the force of history that precedes it. Ramírez-Figueroa has participated in various solo and group exhibitions including the 53 Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen (Oberhausen, Germany), “Home Works IV” at Ashkal Alwan (Beirut, Lebanon), “Illy Present Future 2013” at Castello di Rivoli  (Rivoli, Italy), “A History of Interventions” at the Tate Modern (London, UK), “To Drink And Read the Rainbow” at Casa América (Madrid, Spain) and recently he has created a new installation of sculptures for the 10 Gwangju Biennale (Guangdong, China). He is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Franklin Furnace Award, the Jan Van Eyck Fellowship, and the Akademie Schloss Solitude Fellowship (selected by Dan Graham). Ramirez-Figueroa lives and works in Guatemala City, Guatemala.