A wooden bust of the singer and mass idol Justin Bieber or a sculpture of his naked and tattooed torso embodying Jesus Christ himself, video fragments of Muhammed Ali’s famous boxing matches or an immersive recreation of the 1966 World Cup between England and West Germany, are part of the history of contemporary culture and also some of the works that the Hawaiian artist Paul Pfeiffer exhibits at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao starting this Saturday in the largest exhibition of the multidisciplinary artist in Europe.
Born in 1966 in Honolulu (Hawaii) and living in New York, Pfeiffer shows in his exhibition Prologue to the story of the birth of freedom around thirty works that cover different disciplines such as video, photography, sculpture and installations. The most familiar figures in his work are global icons such as pop music stars such as Justin Bieber or Michael Jackson, actors or athletes and he does this to show the veneration and objectification of mass culture about them. “This use of celebrity culture also speaks of the global dissemination and consumption of images,” they explain from the museum.
“His work elucidates how audience-related mechanisms, from architectural spaces to the broadcast or post-production of images, shape our sense of identity, community, and sometimes, nationality. By recreating or restaging common experiences in which emotions are exacerbated and where the individual is relegated, the artist demonstrates how these events induce feelings of belonging and identity, while highlighting the ever-present issues of difference and otherness,” they detail after presenting the exhibition is commissioned by Clara Kim, chief curator and curatorial director, and Paula Kroll, curatorial assistant, of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and, in collaboration with Marta Blàvia, curator from the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
One of the artist’s goals is to use the architectural form of the stadium or stage to show not only how great spectacles are erected, but also how the body politic (of a nation, of a community, of society) is defined and questioned. ) in relation to said environments. “Pfeiffer’s deft manipulation of footage from sporting events, concerts, and Hollywood films using old digital editing computer programs presaged the prevalence of GIFs and anticipated the mass circulation of short video clips today,” the museum notes. .
Among the most striking works of the Hawaiian artist is the series Incarnator (Incarnator2018–today), in which the artist worked in collaboration with a series of “incarnators,” sculptors from Seville, Betis Pampanga in the Philippines, and Tlaxcala in Mexico known for their production of near-life-size wood carvings of saints and figures religious for Catholic churches and private worship. With this technique he has made a bust of Justin Bieber on one side, his torso tattooed on the other, the crotch with underwear from the Calvin Klein brand that Bieber sponsored, and an arm also tattooed. According to the artist, it is a contemporary incarnation of Jesus Christ. “The production of these sculptures refers to colonial trade routes dating back to the 16th century, illuminating the work and craftsmanship that underlies centuries-old religious traditions and their links to the history of global networks that persist today.” , emphasizes the art gallery.
During the presentation of the exhibition, this Friday at the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Pffeiffer defended, despite the fact that his childhood was spent between the Philippines and the United States, the “transnational vision of his work” that allows analysis from a “global interpretation.” photographs and videos related to North American sports. As detailed, he is very committed to the Philippine context and its unique fusion of racial, religious and cultural traditions, marked by the legacy of colonialism as a former Spanish colony and later as a United States territory, and also by global migration for work reasons in times most recent.
Regarding Bilbao, he has acknowledged having attended several bullfights in the Vista Alegre plaza, in addition to the last two Athletic matches. All as part of a research project to “transfer the reality of Bilbao to the United States.” His goal with the work is to analyze the way images shape the viewers who consume them. Although, as he himself explains, “the same question always arises”: “Who uses who? “Is it the image that makes us or are we the ones who make the images?” asks the artist whose exhibition, sponsored by BBK, will be available at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao until March 16, 2025.
#bust #Justin #Bieber #Guggenheim #Bilbao #reflect #consumption #mass #culture #work #Paul #Pfeiffer
