A video broadcast by fighters of the war in Syria via Twitter showed an overwhelming and extreme act of faith. The dialogue, maintained between two missile operators, picks up the moment when one of them has just lost both his hands. Its psalmodic structure reminds us of a Qur'anic verse. The artist captures this moment in a mural mosaic made by hand using the technique of Arabic azulejaría, establishing a subtle contrast between the speed and volatility of the writing that is spread on digital platforms and the traditional technique of capturing the messages in stone to make them endure.
In the history and sensitivity of Cuba, language has been of the utmost importance. In the series Emblemas, the artist combines the insignia of North American cars of the 40s and 50s, a symbol of capitalist progress, with slogans and popular slogans broadly spread during the Cuban revolution. Rodríguez thus synthesizes the paradox that these vehicles, representative of the capitalist development of the United States after the Second World War, have remained in full use in Cuba throughout sixty years of communism.
In the series Reguetón, the artist proposes the decontextualization of lyrics and their relocation in a totally different setting from their place of origin: inscribed in granite panels, as memorials. The careful reading of these isolated phrases - recorded in Optima typography as a nod to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington - reveals unexpected aspects. It is significant that, extracted from their original context, many of the reggaeton verses show little difference with political and even religious discourse. On the other hand, in many occasions there are existentialist aspects that underline the fragility of marginal subjectivities and the human search for transcendence.
This exhibition, curated by Diana Cuéllar, brings together a selection of works that work with different textures and language fuss, bringing together different historical forms of writing. An exhibition-book or, to be more precise, an exhibition-table is established (establishing, again, a link with contemporary digital tablets). In the midst of fashions and the hyper-acceleration of communications, aspects common to the human condition emerge in their permanent search for spirituality, power and poetry.
In the history and sensitivity of Cuba, language has been of the utmost importance. In the series Emblemas, the artist combines the insignia of North American cars of the 40s and 50s, a symbol of capitalist progress, with slogans and popular slogans broadly spread during the Cuban revolution. Rodríguez thus synthesizes the paradox that these vehicles, representative of the capitalist development of the United States after the Second World War, have remained in full use in Cuba throughout sixty years of communism.
In the series Reguetón, the artist proposes the decontextualization of lyrics and their relocation in a totally different setting from their place of origin: inscribed in granite panels, as memorials. The careful reading of these isolated phrases - recorded in Optima typography as a nod to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington - reveals unexpected aspects. It is significant that, extracted from their original context, many of the reggaeton verses show little difference with political and even religious discourse. On the other hand, in many occasions there are existentialist aspects that underline the fragility of marginal subjectivities and the human search for transcendence.
This exhibition, curated by Diana Cuéllar, brings together a selection of works that work with different textures and language fuss, bringing together different historical forms of writing. An exhibition-book or, to be more precise, an exhibition-table is established (establishing, again, a link with contemporary digital tablets). In the midst of fashions and the hyper-acceleration of communications, aspects common to the human condition emerge in their permanent search for spirituality, power and poetry.
