Andrés Durán

Ecuestre n.º 5

Between 2014-2017, Durán researched public monuments commemorating independence from Spain in Latin America, erected in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which helped to build and reinforce a new national image and identity. The ruling class followed European aesthetics for these monuments, and today, most citizens no longer know who they represent. The heroes of the past have become anonymous sculptures. Here, the artist creates a mock monument from an image of a Simón Bolívar statue in La Paz, Bolívia. The photos are digitally edited to create a fiction, which frees these monuments from any specific narrative and enhances their pure sculptural form.

Andrés Durán / Santiago de Chile, 1974

Andrés Durán Dávila is a visual artist and teacher. He holds a Master’s degree in Contemporary Artistic Practices from the Universidad Finis Terrae and a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Universidad ARCIS. His work has been exhibited in Chile and abroad, including: Monumento Editado: Chile-Peru-Bolivia-Argentina, Museo de Bellas Artes, Santiago (2019); Avenue of the Americas, Y Gallery NYC (2016); Guatephoto Festival, Guatemala (2015); Voces, Latin American Photography 1980-2015, Michael Hoppen Gallery, London (2015); Monumento Editado, Galería Gabriela Mistral, Santiago (2014); Ejercicios para distraer la Mirada, MNBA, Santiago (2012) and Mensulás, IV Bienal de Mercosur Brasil, (2003).
He has been awarded the Descubrimientos PhotoEspaña Prize 2016. In 2015 he won the first place in the CCU Art Scholarship, and a residency at ISCP in NYC. In 2005 he was nominated for the Altazor Award, in the category best installation and video art.

www.andresduran.cl
www.monumentoeditado.com