Claudia Martínez Garay. Photo: Lais Pereira
Claudia Martínez Garay
PROJECT
Hold everything dear depicts a web of imagery considered valuable to Peru and the Andes. Symbols of colonisation and objects of national pride are connected in a rope system, referencing the Peruvian Yunza celebration in which a tree is decorated with everyday items. The central figure is drawn from a sixteenth-century illustration published in the chronicles of Indigenous Peruvian nobleman Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, which were sent to Spain to denounce the ill treatment of the local people. Artist Claudia Martínez Garay describes the work as being ‘about the feeling that I don’t want to forget the stories I’m reading. I don’t want to forget the historical events so painful that they haunt you for the rest of your life. Better to remember than to be numb.’
ABOUT
Claudia Martínez Garay is a Peruvian artist who lives and works between Amsterdam and Lima. She often works with European museum collections and archives, reinterpreting institutional narratives and artefacts. Taking inspiration from her own Andean heritage, she explores historical images, propaganda and sounds from her home country. Her practice encompasses painting, sculpture, printmaking, video and site-specific installation. She has held solo exhibitions at Dundee Contemporary Arts and Nottingham Contemporary (UK), and at Artpace San Antonio (US). Her work has also been included in group exhibitions at Denver Art Museum, Centraal Museum Utrecht, and the Sharjah Biennial, Aichi Triennale and Istanbul Biennial.