In this series of works, the highly technological space capsules and
rockets are turned into buildings and modular apartments, they are rendered as
maquettes using materials and methods of construction inspired in the informal architecture
and street vendor stands found in the beaches and coastal area of El Salvador,
where the artist lives.
Dreams of escape through sophisticated technologies and spaceships
are harnessed by the extreme poverty and harsh post-colonialism found in
Central América, but are, on the other hand, propelled by the resilience, humor
and creativity of the local culture.
"Installation view, "Third World Spaceships". Hiller Brot Kunsthalle, Vienna.
 |
| Installation view with "Saturn Dancing Rocket" on the foreground and "Tropical Mercury Capsule Rug" on the background. |
Installation
view with "Saturn Home Capsule" on the foreground and
"Apulo
Beach Rover Minutas" on the background right.
“Apulo
IV” Tropical Camping"
Acrylic and acrylic marker on canvas 90 x 90
cms.
2016
"Vostok
Driftwood Rocket", Wood, cloth, yute, driftwood, light, found materials.
350
x 120 cms. Ø. 2017 on the left and "Vostok Home Capsule" on the foreground.
Apolo
Burguers & Choris
Acrylic and acrylic marker on canvas 140 x 150 cms.
2016
Installation of twin canvases "Space Race DJs" (above)
Space
Race DJ.
Acrylic and acrylic marker on canvas 109 x 138 cms.2017
(below)
Above:"Third World Rockets", ink and collage on paper,104 x 104 cms. 2016.
"Mosquito
Beach Hostal".
Acrylic and acrylic marker on canvas 110 x 110 cms.2015
Installation
view, Hilger Brot Kunsthalle.
simón vega
Simón Vega creates drawings, objects,
sculptural installations and happenings inspired in the self-made informal
architecture, local markets’ stands and vendor carts found in the streets and
beaches of Central America. These works, assembled with wood, cardboard,
plastic, metal and found materials include transmutable elements, colored
lights and live plants and parody Mayan pyramids, Modernism's iconic buildings
and contemporary surveillance systems, creating an ironic and humorous
fusion between first and third worlds.
In other works, sophisticated
capsules and satellites developed by NASA and the Soviet Space Program
during the Space Race are reconstructed in a similar fashion and comment on the
effects of the Cold War in contemporary El Salvador.
Born in El Salvador in 1972, Simón Vega
graduated in Fine Arts at the University of Veracruz in Mexico in 2000 and
received a Master´s degree in Contemporary Arts from the Complutense University
in Madrid in 2006.
He has exhibited his work extensively in
Europe, the United States and Latin America, including the Pérez Art Museum of
Miami (PAMM), the 55th Venice Biennial in Italy (2013), the IX Havana Biennial,
in Cuba (2006), the Museo del Barrio's "The S-Files" in New York
(2011) and at the Hilger Brot Kunsthalle in Vienna, Austria (2010-2017) amongst
others. The Museum of Contemporary Art & Design of Costa Rica (MADC),
presented his first museum solo show on November 2016. His work is included in
important public and private collections such as the Pérez Art Museum of Miami,
Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo de Costa Rica, the Sanziany Collection at
Rasumofsky Palace in Vienna and El Museo del Barrio in New York. He lives in La
Libertad, El Salvador.
Contact:
art.simonvega@gmail.com
www.hilger.at
Contact:
art.simonvega@gmail.com
www.hilger.at
