Ivan Argote

Iván Argote

(b. 1983, Colombia)

Iván Argote studied at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and at National School of Fine Arts, Paris, France and lives and works in Paris. By creating interventions and performances for the public space, which are sometimes further developed in the format of films and installations, the artist explores the city as a space of transformation. His works has been shown extensively internationally including at SPACE, London, 2016; Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2013; 30th Sao Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo, 2012 ; CA2M, Madrid, 2012; Joan Miró Fundation, Barcelona, 2012, among others. He has received a number of awards: Prize of CIFO Foundation, 2014 (USA); Audi Award for Contemporary Art, 2013 (France); SAM Award for Contemporary Art, 2011 (France); Prize "Mals" Mulhouse Biennial, 2010 (France); Intervenciones TV Awards, 2009 (Spain), National Exhibition Award for Young Artists, 2005 (Colombia).

The installation Ideologically Yours: on What We Feel, How We Feel It, and... the World is a research-based narrative construct that employs a diverse vocabulary including film, collage, sculpture and workshops. It examines the history of ideologies and propaganda and how they affect the formation of subjectivity. The artistic explorations range from the revolutionary movements of the 1970s in Colombia through the ideological connotations of the image industry of the Kodak company to the very recent political events in Ukraine and the USA. Meticulously plotted into the cross-generational dialogue and modulated in the space, the works exercise different levels of political engagement and forms of resistance while questioning their actual impact on social and political realms.