Carolina Caycedo: From the Bottom of the River
Featured images
Carolina Caycedo, Still from Apariciones / Apparitions, 2018. Single-channel HD video, color and sound. 9:11 min. With: Marina Magalhaes (Choreography), Isis Avalos, Samad Guerra, Celeste Tavares, Bianca Medina, Jose Aviles, and Natali Miciche. Commissioned by The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, and the Vincent Price Art Museum
Courtesy of the artist
Carolina Caycedo Still from Apariciones/Apparitions, 2018 Single-channel HD video, color and sound 9:11 min. With: Marina Magalhaes (Choreography), Isis Avalos, Samad Guerra, Celeste Tavares,
Bianca Medina, Jose Aviles, and Natali Miciche
Installation view, Carolina Caycedo: Hunger as Teacher/El Hambre Como Maestra, Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles. September 9–October 21, 2017. Work shown:
Carolina Caycedo The Binding/El amarre (full and detail view), 2017 Nylon fishing net, lead weights, hand-dyed cotton cord, hand-dyed jute cord, leather whips, jute thread, dry cattails, seeds, and plastic sack 111 x 9 x 8 in.
Installation view, Histórias feministas: artistas depois de 2000 (Feminist Histories: Artists after 2000), Museo de Arte São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, 2019. Work shown: Carolina Caycedo Mujeres en Mi, 2010–ongoing
Organic fabrics, synthetic fabrics, and synthetic yarn
2-3 panels, each 12 × 6 ft. (3.66 × 1.83 m)
Documentation of Serpent River Book workshop with Carolina Caycedo, February 21, 2019. Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle.
Photo: Jonathan Vanderweit, courtesy of the Henry Art Gallery.About the Exhibition
Desde el Fondo del Río
Por medio de su práctica de estudio y de su trabajo de campo con comunidades ribereñas afectadas por los proyectos de infraestructura a gran escala, Carolina Caycedo (colombiana, n. 1978; vive y trabaja en Los Ángeles) crea obras que abordan la relación del ser humano con la naturaleza. Trabajando en primera línea de la lucha por la justicia social y medioambiental, la artista recolecta materiales, experiencias, objetos y sentimientos para crear su obra multidisciplinaria.
Carolina Caycedo: Desde el fondo del río analiza los últimos diez años de la práctica artística de Caycedo y se encuentra protagonizada por Represa/Represión (2012– ), un proyecto multimedia en curso que examina el impacto que las represas hidroeléctricas y otros grandes proyectos de infraestructura tienen sobre las comunidades y el medioambiente. Además, la exposición presenta a las poderosas Cosmotarrayas, una serie de esculturas hechas con redes de pesca producidas como resultado de su trabajo de campo en zonas de Colombia, Brasil y otros países, donde la privatización de las vías fluviales ha alterado irrevocablemente la capacidad de vivir y trabajar de las comunidades locales. La exposición incluye video, dibujo, escultura y fotografía, y reflexiona sobre la importancia del proceso y la participación en la obra de Caycedo.
Inspirándose en filosofías indígenas, la obra de Caycedo nos desafía a comprender la naturaleza no como un recurso a ser explotado, sino como una entidad viviente y espiritual que une a las personas más allá de las fronteras. Su enfoque innovador integra su práctica de creación artística en el estudio con acciones en las comunidades afectadas por la minería, la construcción de represas y otros proyectos de extracción de recursos llevados a cabo por corporaciones y gobiernos. La obra de Caycedo invita a los espectadores a considerar el ritmo de crecimiento insostenible que impone el capitalismo y la manera en que podemos reafirmar nuestra resistencia, solidaridad y biodiversidad cultural y medioambiental.
Esta exposición ha sido organizada por Carla Acevedo-Yates, curadora Marilyn y Larry Fields, con Iris Colburn, asistente de curaduría. Se presenta en la Galería Familia Bergman, ubicada en la segunda planta del museo.
From the Bottom of The River
Through her studio practice and fieldwork with riverside communities impacted by large-scale infrastructure projects, Carolina Caycedo (Colombian, b. 1978; lives and works in Los Angeles) makes work that addresses humanity’s relationship with nature. Working on the front lines of social and environmental justice, she gathers materials, experiences, objects, and feelings to make her multidisciplinary work.
Carolina Caycedo: From the Bottom of the River surveys the last ten years of Caycedo's artistic practice and prominently features Be Dammed (2012– ), an ongoing multimedia project that examines the impact of hydroelectric dams and other major infrastructure projects on communities and the environment. It also features Caycedo's powerful Cosmotarrayas, a series of net sculptures produced through fieldwork in rural areas of Colombia, Brazil, and other countries where the privatization of waterways has irrevocably altered the ability of local communities to live and work. The exhibition encompasses video, drawing, sculpture, and photography and reflects the importance of process and participation in Caycedo's work.
Informed by Indigenous philosophies, Caycedo’s work challenges us to understand nature not as a resource to be exploited, but as a living and spiritual entity that unites people beyond borders. Her innovative approach integrates her art-making practice in the studio with actions in communities affected by mining, damming, and other resource extraction projects by corporations and governments. Caycedo’s work invites viewers to consider the unsustainable pace of growth under capitalism—and how we might bolster resistance, solidarity, and cultural and environmental biodiversity.
The exhibition is organized by Carla Acevedo-Yates, Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator, with Iris Colburn, Curatorial Assistant. It is presented in the Bergman Family Gallery on the museum's second floor.
Installation Images
Installation view, Carolina Caycedo: From the Bottom of the River, MCA Chicago Dec 12, 2020–Sep 12, 2021
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Carolina Caycedo: From the Bottom of the River, MCA Chicago Dec 12, 2020–Sep 12, 2021
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Carolina Caycedo: From the Bottom of the River, MCA Chicago Dec 12, 2020–Sep 12, 2021
Work shown: My Feminine Lineage of Environmental Struggle, 2018. Courtesy of the artist, Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, and Instituto de Visión, Bogotá
Installation view, Carolina Caycedo: From the Bottom of the River, MCA Chicago Dec 12, 2020–Sep 12, 2021
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Carolina Caycedo: From the Bottom of the River, MCA Chicago Dec 12, 2020–Sep 12, 2021 Works from the River Books series, 2016-Ongoing and Cosmotarraya Elwha, 2016-20
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Carolina Caycedo: From the Bottom of the River, MCA Chicago Dec 12, 2020–Sep 12, 2021
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Carolina Caycedo: From the Bottom of the River, MCA Chicago Dec 12, 2020–Sep 12, 2021 Work shown: __ (detail), 2017. Courtesy of the artist and Instituto de Visión, Bogotá
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Carolina Caycedo: From the Bottom of the River, MCA Chicago Dec 12, 2020–Sep 12, 2021 Work shown: Mujeres en mí / Women in Me (4) (detail) from the Mujeres en mí series, 2010–ongoing. Elisa Estrada F-S Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Carolina Caycedo: From the Bottom of the River, MCA Chicago Dec 12, 2020–Sep 12, 2021
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.
Installation view, Carolina Caycedo: From the Bottom of the River, MCA Chicago Dec 12, 2020–Sep 12, 2021 Work shown: Apparitions, 2019. Collaboration with choreographer Marina de Magalhães and filmmaker David de Rozas, together with dancers Samad Guerra, Isis Avalos, Bianca Medina, Jose Richard Aviles, and Celeste Tavares. Courtesy of the artist, Instituto de Visión, Bogota, and Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA ChicagoCarolina Caycedo: From the Bottom of the River
Funding
Lead support is provided by the Harris Family Foundation in memory of Bette and Neison Harris: Caryn and King Harris, Katherine Harris, Toni and Ron Paul, Pam Szokol, Linda and Bill Friend, and Stephanie and John Harris; the Zell Family Foundation; Julie and Larry Bernstein; R.H. Defares; the Margot and W. George Greig Ascendant Artist Fund; Cari and Michael Sacks; and Anonymous.
Major support is provided by Estrellita and Daniel Brodsky, Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, and Charlotte Cramer Wagner and Herbert S. Wagner III of the Wagner Foundation.
Generous support is provided by Commonwealth and Council, Marisa Murillo, David Walega, and Anonymous.
This exhibition is supported by the Women Artists Initiative, a philanthropic commitment to further equity across gender lines and promote the work and ideas of women artists.
