Fleeting Imaginaries

The title of this exhibition reflects the evolution of imagination and the symbolic creation of shared images. While we often associate images with distinct cultures or identities as if they were clearly defined, the truth is that imaginaries are inherently uncertain entities; as Néstor García Canclini puts it, they represent “what we do not know or are on the verge of knowing.” This uncertainty is what makes them so intriguing and worthy of exploration.

To displace means to project, substitute, transfer, or translate. These terms illuminate the idea that nothing in motion remains unchanged. When something is fluid, it sheds and accumulates new meanings, ultimately shaping a new perception. The imaginary is a socio-cultural construct that is constantly evolving.

Although the works featured in CIFO’s 2014 Grants & Commissions Program exhibition may differ widely, they are united under this title because they all engage with the concept of displacement. If imaginaries are “symbolic elaborations of what we observe,” then contemporary art, with its reflective nature, is crucial in shaping our perception of ourselves, enabling viewers to experience the imaginary through artistic practice. This emphasis on introspection and contemplation will engage the audience on a deeper level.

This exhibition presents three forms of displacement: literal, conceptual, and fragmentary. Whether through social comparison, representations of transformed cultures, the deconstruction of formal structures, or interrogating language, each work in Fleeting Imaginaries shares a common thread: a state of flux within constructed identities. It seems that for an imaginary to possess a definitive existence, its validity must be questioned through displacement.

Artists
Pablo Accinelli (Argentina), Teresa Burga (Peru), Nayarí Castillo (Venezuela), Claudia Joskowicz (Bolivia), Marcellvs L. (Brazil), Carlos Martiel (Cuba), Mateo Pizarro (Colombia), Adrián Regnier (Mexico), Rosângela Rennó (Brazil), Antonieta Sosa (Venezuela).