Beginning August 23, the Getty Center clears away the European view of the history of the American double continent and instead gives space to other perspectives. (Re)Inventing the Américas: Repeat. Erase, Construct also questions its own collection.
The Getty Center in L.A. opens August 23 with (Re)Inventing the Américas: Repeat. Erase, Construct, an exhibition that seeks to restage the European view of the history of the American double continent from the ground up. On view through January 8, 2023, it radically explores the creation of mythologies that emerged during the conquest of the American continents, revealing the power that legends and »paradisiacal concepts« exercised in defining the two »Americas.«
The engravings, etchings, lithographs, and woodcuts on view also question the Getty's own collections from the colonial period and the 19th century. »They take a hard look at European representations of the American continents,« said Mary Miller, director of the Getty Research Institute. »It [the exhibit] shows that the Americas have been reinvented using European conventions and ideas.«
This time, in order to create an image that illustrates more than just the perception of the Americas from the European perspective, this exhibition features contemporary Brazilian indigenous artist Denilson Baniwa. »Our collections illustrate the construction of an image of the Americas based on the European perspective,« says Idurre Alonso, curator at the Getty Research Institute. »Therefore, it was important for me to analyze this European perspective and counter it through a multi-layered presentation of the objects in the exhibition. To this end, I collaborated with Denilson Baniwa and our local Latin American and Latinx community. Their voices became part of the exhibition's narrative and questioned the persistence of certain ideas.«
Baniwa's urban interventions represent indigenous people, examine America's colonial past, and counter stereotypical representations of their culture. His work enriches the exhibition with unflinching prints and drawings.
The exhibition is divided into five themes: the allegorical construction of the Americas, the natural wealth of the Americas, the construction of archetypes, the political images of conquest, and the work of European travelers.
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