Dream One
23 September - 12 November, 2022
“You are illiterate in the way leaves are illiterate: they do not read, they are there to be read; and if they are properly read, they create their own literature.”
The quote, which belongs to the poet Derek Walcott, can be found in the script of artist Santiago Mostyn’s latest installation, Dream One, produced for Södertälje konsthall. In the central video, the artist meets digital and re-enacted versions of Walcott before his death, with the poet telling a story about a “douen,” a child-like, folkloric creature from Trinidad known for its capacity to lure children deep into the forest. As an artist Santiago Mostyn is well-known for his ability to create politically explosive narratives through an associative, almost lyrical, style of visual storytelling. Dream One is no exception, borne by deep political and ethical dimensions that touch upon subjects such as rootlessness, home and that which remains hidden, perhaps even secret. Images are charged with language and language is charged through image and narration... [continue reading]
- text by Joanna Sandell
E-flux Review by Natasha-Marie Llorens
Installation photographs: Jean-Baptiste Béranger
23 September - 12 November, 2022
“You are illiterate in the way leaves are illiterate: they do not read, they are there to be read; and if they are properly read, they create their own literature.”
The quote, which belongs to the poet Derek Walcott, can be found in the script of artist Santiago Mostyn’s latest installation, Dream One, produced for Södertälje konsthall. In the central video, the artist meets digital and re-enacted versions of Walcott before his death, with the poet telling a story about a “douen,” a child-like, folkloric creature from Trinidad known for its capacity to lure children deep into the forest. As an artist Santiago Mostyn is well-known for his ability to create politically explosive narratives through an associative, almost lyrical, style of visual storytelling. Dream One is no exception, borne by deep political and ethical dimensions that touch upon subjects such as rootlessness, home and that which remains hidden, perhaps even secret. Images are charged with language and language is charged through image and narration... [continue reading]
- text by Joanna Sandell
E-flux Review by Natasha-Marie Llorens
Installation photographs: Jean-Baptiste Béranger
08-18 (Past Perfect) – Paris
7 April - 22 May, 2022
Solo exhibition at Andréhn-Schiptjenko Paris.
Pairings and triptychs of analogue photographs, made over the course of a decade of travel between sites of personal significance for the artist, hang on constantly developing cyanotype walls. In each grouping, photographs from the different locations are placed in contrast (Harare–Tobago, Carenage–Mutare, Miami–Port-of-Spain) to consider how individuals on either side of the Black Atlantic choose to pose or assemble, and how gestures carry over time or across generations.
Read the full press release here.
Installation photographs: Alexandra de Cossette.
7 April - 22 May, 2022
Solo exhibition at Andréhn-Schiptjenko Paris.
Pairings and triptychs of analogue photographs, made over the course of a decade of travel between sites of personal significance for the artist, hang on constantly developing cyanotype walls. In each grouping, photographs from the different locations are placed in contrast (Harare–Tobago, Carenage–Mutare, Miami–Port-of-Spain) to consider how individuals on either side of the Black Atlantic choose to pose or assemble, and how gestures carry over time or across generations.
Read the full press release here.
Installation photographs: Alexandra de Cossette.
08-18 (Past Perfect) – Reykjavik
14 January - 27 March, 2022
Solo exhibition at Gerðarsafn - Kopavogur Museum, Iceland.
The photo series 08–18 (Past Perfect) was created over a decade of returns to Trinidad, Zimbabwe, Grenada, the United States, and Scandinavia. Sections of the gallery are hung with wallpaper treated with a mix of cyanotype chemicals, which, left unfixed, will shift and develop a darkening grey-blue tone as they are exposed to the winter sun over the course of the exhibition.
Read the rest of the press release here.
Documentation: Vigfus Birgisson
14 January - 27 March, 2022
Solo exhibition at Gerðarsafn - Kopavogur Museum, Iceland.
The photo series 08–18 (Past Perfect) was created over a decade of returns to Trinidad, Zimbabwe, Grenada, the United States, and Scandinavia. Sections of the gallery are hung with wallpaper treated with a mix of cyanotype chemicals, which, left unfixed, will shift and develop a darkening grey-blue tone as they are exposed to the winter sun over the course of the exhibition.
Read the rest of the press release here.
Documentation: Vigfus Birgisson
Your Shadow is a Mirror
7 January - 20 February, 2021
Solo exhibition at Andréhn-Schiptjenko, Stockholm.
Read the press release here.
Link to an excerpt of The Promise (video loop).
Review by Valerie Kyeyune Backström:
How Do You Go from Shadow to Human?
Installation photographs: Jean-Baptiste Béranger
7 January - 20 February, 2021
Solo exhibition at Andréhn-Schiptjenko, Stockholm.
Read the press release here.
Link to an excerpt of The Promise (video loop).
Review by Valerie Kyeyune Backström:
How Do You Go from Shadow to Human?
Installation photographs: Jean-Baptiste Béranger