ivan navarro: chilean pavilion - venice art biennale 09

riding through the streets of new york city
image courtesy galerie daniel templon, paris

curated by antonio arévalo and justo pastor mellado, the chilean pavilion inside
the arsenale at this year's venice art biennale, presents the work of ivan navarro.
the project on show is entitled 'threshold' and is explained through three separate elements / moments:
'resistance', 'death row' and 'bed'.
through his art, navarro reflects on minimalism and transcends its pure formalism
by addressing social and political issues, with an underlying critique of power and authority.


'resistance', 2009 - preparing the bike for a ride
image courtesy galerie daniel templon, paris

'resistance' is a sculpture that is accompanied by a video: it is a bicycle with a chair
that is constructed from fluorescent tubes that are illuminated by the activation
of the bike's pedals. in the video, the same bicycle is seen riding around
times square in new york, showing the sharp contrast between
luminous urban furniture and the lights generated by the cyclist's muscle power.


'resistance', 2009
image © designboom


the public was allowed to test the bicycle on display
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image © designboom


a look at how the chair has been made from fluorescent light tubes
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image © designboom


image © designboom


the mechanics of how the bicycle powers the chair
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the bike illuminated from the cyclist's pedaling
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'death row', 2006 illuminating the chilean pavilion with a myriad of color
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'death row' consists of thirteen aluminum doors with neon lights inside.
they are arranged in such a way that each door creates an optical illusion
in the space it occupies, which results in an effect of multiple corridors through the wall.


each door is represented by a different color
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a look down one of the endless doorways
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the warmth of the light juxtaposed against the pavilion's cool interior
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the opening of the barrel
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this circular sculpture is affixed to the floor. with half of the word 'bed' lit and reflected
by a mirror, the entire word is repeated down into a deep, dark tunnel to infinity.


the one way mirror reflects the word 'bed' repeatedly
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image © designboom


portrait of ivan navarro, 2009

ivan navarro was born in santiago, chile in 1972.
graduating from the pontificia universidad catolica, in santiago in 1995,
he has since been exhibiting his work internationally.