LOTHAR BAUMGARTEN
Rheinsberg, Germany, 1944
Montaigne/Pemón, 1977-85
18 gelatin silver prints/ wall drawing
Variable dimensions
Since the late 1960s, Lothar Baumgarten has focused some of his artistic practice on analysing and questioning Western systems of thought and representation, as well as the ways our perception of and relation to native cultures are constructed. This led him to expeditions to remote areas on the confines of Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela from 1977 to 1986. The artist lived for eighteen months among the Yãnomãmi people in the upper Orinoco region, who, at the time, had little contact with the outside world.
During those months, Baumgarten shot nine hours of 16 mm film, recorded seventy-four hours of linguistic material, and produced a wide range of photographic works, including the prints that are part of Montaigne / Pemón. The wall drawing, Pipra Aureola,Venezuela, also stems from that period, and features the names of the rivers found across the Guiana Shield, contaminated by mercury. The river names are in Pemón, a language spoken by the Arekuna, the region’s native tribe. The shape of the wall drawing replicates the form of their Karib war club.
Lothar Baumgarten
Rheinsberg, Germany, 1944
Baumgarten has been acknowledged as one of the founders of conceptual art since the 1970s. Although his output is wide-ranging and drawings, films and photographs can be found, the artist has mainly devoted his attention to sculpture and installations.
Centro Botín
Albareda Dock no/d,
Peredas gardens
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