Memory Vague



—solo show
—november 2021
—text


[Nogueras Blanchard, Barcelona]
City of Illusions is a science fiction novel by American author Ursula K. Le Guin published in 1967, and is the story of the protagonist’s journey of discovery and self-identity. A path leading from the darkness of the forest – from which the main character emerges with no memory, no past – through the darkness of space, where he loses himself at the end of the story, returning back to his home, his future. On his quest, he will travel through an unknown and hostile territory, learning from each encounter and experience to understand his origins.

From the outset of his career, Karlos Gil (Talavera, 1989) has used science fiction as a foundational tool in his work. While he is interested in the genre’s ability to reflect and highlight issues of the present through anecdotes set in another time, he also uses it as a repertoire of objects loaded with cultural references. In both cases, it is the genre’s metaphorical capacity which Gil most appreciates.

Through this cultural creation, the artist investigates the mechanisms of how stories, narrations and representations are constructed, especially with regard to displacements in the interpretation of the symbol, examining issues involved in the creation, dissemination and reception of the artistic work and its relationship with the historical, social and cultural environment in which it appears.

Paraphrasing the classics of the genre, Ursula K. Le Guin’s book serves as a guide to examine Karlos Gil’s work up-close. We approach the exhibition as a physical journey through the temporal trajectory of his work, using the novel as an instruction manual and literature as a dictionary to find clues to approach the work of the visual artist.

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