Yamandú Canosa
Curated by Patricia Bentancur (Co-Curadora 58 Bienal de Venecia)
Orión
Yamandú Canosa's work is built on a permanent tension between sign and metalanguage, between reference and metaphor. Orión, 2019, is one of the pieces that were part of the installation “The empathic house”, which was presented at the Uruguay Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale. This work - which, due to its materiality, we could consider unique in the grammar of this artist - is a new way of re-naming the fundamental elements that make up the conceptual axis of all his practice.
The constellations define the belonging of our gaze, the sky of the Northern Hemisphere is different from that of the South. However, the constellation of Orion is visible in both hemispheres. That semantic ubiquity summarizes the uneasiness of belonging, as in no other work by this artist. Orion inhabits all eyes. Thus, Canosa not only names her, but makes her a game. The stars are petanque, someone cast their luck before us, but we are invited to continue playing. Canosa offers us the possibility of creating a new cosmogony. Surely we will not, but for a moment we will have the illusion of that power, the power to create a new constellation, parodying the Gods. Like the players of Popol Vuh, this sculpture is nothing other than the possibility of stalking some unpredictable movement.
Canosa's work is key to completing any contemporary narrative. His works integrate the permanent collections of various museums, art centers and foundations both public and private.