Why do the works of an Amazonian artist and an artist from Lima share space at ARCOmadrid 2022?

The works of Santiago Yahuarcani and Alberto Casari they are contemporary, but completely different. The first is an Amazonian artist, who since the 1980s has been recording, with dedication and dedication, the traditional knowledge and myths originating from the Uitotos of his maternal family; and the second is an artist born in Lima, whose career has followed various paths linked to painting, design, installations and the manufacture of objects, rugs and furniture. However, there is a dialogue between both works, based on the use of a material such as vegetable fibers: the llanchama in the case of Yahuarcani and rustic fabrics in the case of Casari. Hence, new perspectives are opened that crisis gallery has decided to present jointly in the section “Never the same. Latin American Art”, from the fair ARCOmadridwhich will take place between February 23 and 27 next.

As the gallery owner tells Alexandra Morales It was the co-curator of this section of the fair, Manuela Moscoso, who proposed bringing together the proposals of both artists in the same space. she says. On behalf of Yahuarcani, works of large and small format are presented, which are like a synthesis of all his imaginary: from the theme of the exploitation of rubber to the presence of mythical beings and scenes that describe the power of medicinal plants. ; and on Casari’s side, painted fabrics are shown, some made in the 1990s, in which the artist explores monochromatic tones close to the Chancay looms, with minimalist traces of a certain oriental influence.

With its participation in ARCOmadrid, Santiago Yahuarcani he feels that he is fulfilling the dream of his mother, the wise uitota Martha Lopez Pinedo, who passed away in 2014. Once, she entered his workshop and saw what he was painting and told him: “those works will go far, far away, where we will never arrive”. Now, he remembers those words as a kind of omen.

says the artist, by phone, from his home in Pebasan Amazonian community, located at the mouth of the Ampiayacu River, in Loreto.

Those stories you refer to Yahuarcani they have to do with a series of stories, many of them unknown by official Peru, that the artist has been painting since the 1980s: the atrocities committed by the rubber tappers at the beginning of the 20th century, the Witoto myths linked to the creation of the world , the place that his White Heron clan occupies in the Amazon, the world of dreams and his experience in treating diseases based on his knowledge of the plants of the forest.

“Lately,” says Yahuarcani— I have been working on works in small format, with materials from here, with some bark, some herbs and various natural dyes”. He then says that he is exploring more and more in the medicine of his ancestors. . Precisely, from the series that he has sent to the Madrid fair, he highlights a 35 x 50 centimeter work, in which he has used cedar wood dust, and in which he represents two shamans intertwined in a fierce battle. Like most of his paintings, this one also has a story behind it, which he narrates with emotion:

. Several of these Casari pieces were made during his stay in Italy in the 1990s, when he was experiencing one of the many breaks that have followed his career.

It was a time when he was introduced to Buddhism and became interested in the East, especially in Japanese kakemonos, those hanging cloths with calligraphy or paintings. In the case of works sent to this version of ARCOmadrid, Casari has chosen some painted canvases that present pre-Columbian-inspired figures, such as one titled “The dead”and which represents a kind of reclining feline made with rudimentary strokes, and other more recent ones, much more symbolic, such as mandalas.

These are two artists who, beyond differences in proposals, interests and styles, have a shared interest in exploring the materials offered by their respective environments. Therein lies, to a large extent, the power of his art, with works that will now share a space in one of the most important contemporary art fairs. as it says, Alexandra Moralesone of the managers of Crisis“we do not use the fair as much as a commercial platform, but we are interested in presenting projects and giving visibility to our artists, as those who present them in society”.

The works of Santiago Yahuarcani and Alberto Casari will be exhibited at the booth of Crisislocated at 9NLM08, of the section “Never the same. Latin American art”, under the curatorship of Manuela Moscoso and Mariano Mayer. The fair ARCOmadrid 2022 will be made from February 23 to 27 in the Spanish capital.