Hammer Projects: Patricia Esquivias

"This event has been listed on farhang.org by the Hammer Museum and is NOT officially sponsored or endorsed by the Farhang Foundation."

Venezuelan-born artist Patricia Esquivias creates videos that weave found images, history, and personal anecdotes into narratives that convey her insights about contemporary culture. Esquivias acts as narrator in these vignettes, in which she presents clips from videos and magazines, photos, drawings, and other small objects. The camera is often trained on Esquivias’s laptop and the gallery visitor sees only her hands scrolling through digital images, playing videos, and inserting physical pictures as she speaks. Her monotone voice and meandering style of storytelling belie the significant planning and intention that she puts into presenting her paired subjects, which have included Julio Iglesias and King Philip II, Spanish raves and an associate of Francisco Franco, as well as herself and the artist Susan Brown. The connections that Esquivias creates in her videos are often idiosyncratic and difficult to locate, offering the viewer an opportunity for contemplation and discovery.