Nicolas Romero Escalada’s “Estada de Alarma” at Ochi Projects.
Currently virtually on view at Ochi Projects via it’s special website is Argentinian artist Nicolas Romero Escalada’s solo exhibition, “Estada de Alarma.”
Back in March, Romero was at an artist residency in Barcelona, Spain. When the country issued a state of emergency due to COVID-19, the Argentinian embassy told Romero he could travel home to Buenos Aires via Madrid. Romero made his way to Madrid, only to find that by the time he arrived, he could no longer leave the county, or re-enter his own. Making the best of the situation, he found a studio and started painting.
The still life has been a consistent trope within Romero’s practice, a way for the artist to address the human condition—obscuring himself among imagery both personal and universal—and to consider our lifelong relationship to image consumption and the way symbols reinforce the status quo. This series of seven paintings act as a visual narrative of Romero’s thoughts during the state of alarm as he considered his experiences as a man raised in the tradition of the patriarchy, as an Argentinian, trapped, living illegally in a country that had once colonized his own, and as a citizen of a world driven by politics and capitalism.
Daily encounters are painted alongside memories, relics, symbols and objects. In Romero’s paintings references to nostalgic popular culture, current political events, world history, capitalism and colonialism pile on top of one another, the past within the present, the individual experience blends with the collective – nuances seemingly magnified by the global pandemic. Romero presents these paintings not exclusively as critique, but more as observation. If anything, he hopes to strike a tone more humorous than cynical as he remains ever optimistic about the ingenuity of humankind and our potential for better.
Take a look at the exhibition on it’s special website.
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