About Exhibit
Comedy refers to any discourse intended to amuse. The Greeks describe it as a dramatic performance which pits two groups or societies against each other in an amusing conflict. This is particularly true with political satire which portrays persons or institutions as corrupt with a sense of humor. This was the general approach with the exhibition Playing with Fire, currently showing at El Museo del Barrio.
Nicolas Dumit Estevez, the curator, takes a very whimsical, in your face, paradoxical approach to very tough subject matter; that of decaying and oppressive systems. By pushing the societal envelope, Estevez, in collaboration with noted activist artists, politicizes art space with a smile.
With regard to documenting the exhibit, I wanted the photos to show the communication between art, space and the viewer.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: ADAL, Manuel Acevedo, Maris Bustamante, Nao Bustamante, Papo Colo, Abigail DeVille, Alejandro Diaz, Adonis Flores, Ester Hernández, Javier Hinojosa (b. 1956, México, D.F.) with the collaboration of Melquiades Herrera (Mexico, D.F., 1949-2003), Jessica Kairé, Carlos Jesus Martinez Dominguez, Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga, Carlos Ortíz, Pedro Pietri, Jesús Natalio Puras Penzo (APECO), Quintín Rivera Toro, Juan Sánchez.
About the Curator: Nicolas Dumit Estevez
Source: Independent Curators International
Co-Lab: Curatorial Design and Media Practices: Guatemala Después 