José Vera Matos
Bio
José Vera Matos (1981) Vera Matos was recently selected to be part of Phaidon's Vitamin D3: Today's Best in Contemporary Art. His most recent exhibitions include: Cartier Foundation, Paris; Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI); Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen; Delfina Foundation, London; El Museo del Barrio, New York; among others.
His work can be found in the following collections: MALI - Museo de Arte de Lima; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art, Paris; Louisiana Museum, Copenhagen; Davidoff Foundation in Switzerland, among others.
Statement
The drawings and transcriptions by José Vera Matos reflect on language and writing as essential tools for the conquest and domination of America, but also on how those same tools later became a means of resistance used throughout history.
The selected texts address various aspects of the impact of the conquest in America. More than the historical fact itself, what interests Vera Matos are the consequences and phenomena resulting from this violent clash between the two cultures. Colonial violence and resistance movements throughout history make themselves felt not only in the wars of conquest and anti-colonial struggles, but also, later on, in a series of facets of daily life beset by the tension between the "civilized" and the "savage", between official and popular culture, between the western and the indigenous.
2.5 x 4m / 98.4 x 157 in
