Sin título, 2019-2024 · Marcelo Viquez

The installation Sin título, 2019-2024, by the Uruguayan artist based in Mallorca Marcelo Viquez, is presented in the Aljub at the Casal Solleric. This is a performative installation that will be activated and completed with the intervention of visitors who, without being fully aware of their participation, will not discover the magnitude of the work until they reach the last room of the route through this unique exhibition space. A white cloth arranged on the floor runs along the entire itinerary and will be stepped on and made dirty by the people who visit the exhibition. At the final end of the fabric there is a broken flagpole, which suggests that it was a flag (formally a flag is defined as a piece of fabric, commonly rectangular in shape, which is secured on one of its sides to a pole or a halyard).

The symbolic load of certain elements is undoubted. The flag, a simple way to express a complex idea, is a powerful emblem that identifies the nation with a symbol and has a strong emotional component. The flag represents a community and has to do with identity, and when this is in danger it relies on the flag. 

Conflicts are inherent to the history of humanity and precisely at this time several terrible wars coexist throughout our world. Although the germ of this project of great conceptual significance dates back a few years - it originated during a trip to Mexico by the artist - it had not been carried out to date, but unfortunately it is valid for different socio-political contexts, moments and geographies. An issue, that of the flags, to which Viquez had already paid attention in a certain way in another of his works: the “curtains-flags.”

Art is a means to question and challenge established interpretations of symbols linked to both conflict and peace; Flags have the power to unite, but also to divide. The representation of the white flag – which is the one raised in the desire for parliament or surrender – being trampled generates a direct confrontation with our most deeply rooted perceptions, inciting us to reflect in depth on the meaning of these emblems. The ambiguity of the work, the duality that is manifested, raises questions about the true nature of the white flag, inviting participation in a dialogue, allowing diverse perspectives to intertwine and enrich the general understanding. 

If we look closely during the tour we will also find on one of the walls of the space a small drawing, as if it had been made by someone who had passed by there. In it, some words cross each other sharing some letters: duality, symbol, textile, rights and trampled, as in the game of Scrabble. They are the key words, the concepts on which the artist reflects and invites us to go deeper with this work.

As the artist suggests, the white flag “is a call to surrender or, on the contrary, an inherent reminder of peace?” Obviously this work is not going to suggest the same thing to all of us or refer to the same premises, which certainly enriches the proposal. Dialogue is a valuable tool for addressing the complexities inherent in these important issues. “By serving as a catalyst for collective exploration, the work is not limited to a visual expression; It becomes a vehicle for the reevaluation of our preconceived ideas about fundamental concepts such as peace or resistance.”

Marcelo Viquez (Montevideo, 1971) has lived in Mallorca for more than two decades. His artistic practice encompasses different media: drawing, sculpture, installation, painting, video, photography and music. With a very personal perception of reality, he uses his own biography, his passions, experiences or troubles, to make a critical portrait of the society that surrounds him, but he does so with humor and irony. He frequently uses the written message in his drawings and paintings as part of his visual language. For his sculptures he appropriates, manipulates and decontextualizes everyday objects and plays with scale and antagonisms, thus providing deeper layers of meaning to his compositions that attract and disturb us. Getting to the bottom of what they propose is not always an easy task since the keys to their works are not always obvious.

Marcelo Viquez. Sin título, 2019-2024
Aljub / Casal Solleric
20 January - 17 March 2024
Curator: Helena Juncosa