Levitate, Villa Medici (Rome) | Iván ARGOTE (2024) | PERROTIN

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Iván
ARGOTE

Levitate, Villa Medici (Rome), 2024

C-print mounted on Dibond

Unframed : 140 x 210 x 3 cm | 55 1/8 x 82 11/16 x 1 3/16 inch
Framed : 146 x 216 x 4 cm | 57 1/2 x 85 1/16 x 1 9/16 inch

Edition of 3 + 2 AP

Courtesy Perrotin

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photograph :

Ivan_Argote_Levitate, Villa Medici (Rome)_

These new series of photographs document a significant intervention made by Iván Argote during his residency at Villa Medici. We can see the Flaminio Obelisk flying in the sky, suspended by cranes, as if it was part of a restitution or an exhibition. This obelisk, now located in Rome's Piazza del Popolo, is the first ever brought to Europe; brought by the Romans in the first century BC to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the conquest of Egypt. Since then, many emperors, popes, and wealthy families in Europe have brought different obelisks to celebrate and demonstrate their domination over other territories. The obelisk has become an archetype of a monument used to celebrate various events. During his residency, the artist conducted extensive research on the history of all displaced obelisks. Here, this hallucination, this flying monolith, becomes a sort of proposal or fiction that asks us about why we continue to use symbols of domination as monuments in public spaces.

Ivan_Argote_Levitate, Villa Medici (Rome)_
Ivan_Argote_Levitate, Villa Medici (Rome)_
Ivan_Argote_Levitate, Villa Medici (Rome)_
  • Ivan_Argote_Levitate, Villa Medici (Rome)_
  • Ivan_Argote_Levitate, Villa Medici (Rome)_
  • Ivan_Argote_Levitate, Villa Medici (Rome)_
  • Ivan_Argote_Levitate, Villa Medici (Rome)_

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