Peru 2019

Title: “Indios Antropófagos”
Curator: Gustavo Buntinx 
Commissioner: Armando Andrade de Lucio 
Artists: Christian Bendayán

The Pavilion of Peru at the 58th International Art Exhibition features Christian Bendayán‘s artwork “Indios antropófagos”, in which the artist critically reconsiders Amazon’s constructed image. The project is a postconceptual exploration of the impact of Amazon culture on certain neobaroque production in contemporary Peruvian art. The title of the exhibition, willingly encapsulated between quotation marks, cites the frequent inscription of similar phrases on early 20th century postcards with exoticised subjects, edited or exaggerated to express a sense of otherness in contrast with the “civilising” incursion of the State and the Market in those “wild lands”.