04 Jul 2008

SIZE MATTERS? - NATALIA KEMPOWSKY at Maria Elena Kravetz Gallery

Sculptures and installation by colombian artist



NATALIA KEMPOWSKY





Size matters ?



Size matters?, a solo exhibition by Colombian artist Natalia Kempowsky taking place at María Elena Kravetz Art Gallery – Córdoba – between the 2nd and 30th of July deals with contemporary issues of travelling an migration. At the outset, Kempowsky ponders on the amount of freedom individuals possess when planning to see and know the world. Realising that the freedom to travel and explore is waned or increased depending on the traveller's nationality and the amount of countries that demand that no visa is acquired, the artist creates an imaginary rout map that explores the relationship between the freedom to travel, the size of the land that can be covered, dynamics of international migration and cultural identity.



Naturally, the personal history of the artist counts a great deal. Having been born in Colombia of German ancestors and having lived in London, her identity is constructed through several routes of migration where even the discovery of America by Columbus plays a role. Kempowsky first researches the nature of treaties between countries that would allow travellers to move through borders freely, and then creates spheres that metaphorically indicate the size of the knowable world for a Colombian, a Brazilian, an Argentine, a Chilean or a citizen of the United States, among other countries. A second research is conducted, this time in the nature of the cultural identity of each of these nations, arriving to the conclusion that those with more open boundaries acquire cultural richness by way of what they inherit from their immigrants, while those countries whose liberty of mobility is lesser strive in holding their cultural roots close and cherish and pass them on through several generations.



Kempowsky's work implicitly reveals dynamics of cultural, political and ideological domination, while the very idea of cultural identity is questioned. Playing with our notions of what is local and what is global, her work evidences the elements that construct the cultural identity of each of these nations, explores monumentality and through collage and a heartfelt exercise in rich drawing makes spectators wonder about their own cultural identities.



Paula Silva - Independent Art Critic and Curator



ABOUT THE ARTIST



Having German heritage and having been born in Bucaramanga – Colombia in 1980, Natalia Kempowsky studied Fine Art at the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá. Following her undergraduate studies, she earned a Master of Arts in Fine Art – Sculpture - at the University of the Arts London –Chelsea College of Arts and Design in November 2006. She has participated in several solo and group exhibitions in Colombia, London and New York. She currently lives and works in Bogotá.