Fernando Bayona

Once Upon a Time: Piel de Asno.

2015

The first person to photograph the Huichol in their remote communities in the inaccessible canyons of the Western Sierra Madre was probably the Norwegian anthropologist, Carl Lumholtz. He ventured into their territory in 1895, shortly before the arrival of the French naturalist and ethnographer Léon Diguet, who was also a photographer. Like so many who were engaged with documenting Indigenous peoples across the Americas in those brutal years of expansion and settlement, Lumholtz believed that the disappearance of his subjects was inevitable: “the weaker must succumb to the stronger, and the Indians will ultimately all become Mexicans.” The photographs of the Huichol by Pablo Ortiz Monasterio—taken on some twenty trips over the past three decades—prove that Lumholtz was fortunately, terribly wrong. They reveal abundant evidence of cultural survival (what the Huichol call “la costumbre”), made possible by their extraordinary resistance to the religious, nationalist, and economic forces that have long assaulted—and that continue to assault—Indigenous communities everywhere. Though Ortiz Monasterio is also an outsider, he does not operate—like Lumholtz or Diguet—as an old-fashioned preservationist, nor is he confident in the superiority of Western culture, nor is his work only destined for museum vitrines...

Documentary Photograph. Contemporary Inkjet on cotton. Limited edition of 5. Signed front and verso. Framed in lacquered black frame with spacer) The first person to photograph the Huichol in their remote communities in the inaccessible canyons of the Western Sierra Madre was probably the Norwegian anthropologist, Carl Lumholtz. He ventured into their territory in 1895, shortly before the arrival of the French naturalist and ethnographer Léon Diguet, who was also a photographer. Like so many who were engaged with documenting Indigenous peoples across the Americas in those brutal years of expansion and settlement, Lumholtz believed that the disappearance of his subjects was inevitable: “the weaker must succumb to the stronger, and the Indians will ultimately all become Mexicans.” The photographs of the Huichol by Pablo Ortiz Monasterio—taken on some twenty trips over the past three decades—prove that Lumholtz was fortunately, terribly wrong. They reveal abundant evidence of cultural survival (what the Huichol call “la costumbre”), made possible by their extraordinary resistance to the religious, nationalist, and economic forces that have long assaulted—and that continue to assault—Indigenous communities everywhere. Though Ortiz Monasterio is also an outsider, he does not operate—like Lumholtz or Diguet—as an old-fashioned preservationist, nor is he confident in the superiority of Western culture, nor is his work only destined for museum vitrines...

Documentary Photograph. Contemporary Inkjet on cotton. Limited edition of 5. Signed front and verso. Framed in lacquered black frame with spacer) The first person to photograph the Huichol in their remote communities in the inaccessible canyons of the Western Sierra Madre was probably the Norwegian anthropologist, Carl Lumholtz. He ventured into their territory in 1895, shortly before the arrival of the French naturalist and ethnographer Léon Diguet, who was also a photographer. Like so many who were engaged with documenting Indigenous peoples across the Americas in those brutal years of expansion and settlement, Lumholtz believed that the disappearance of his subjects was inevitable: “the weaker must succumb to the stronger, and the Indians will ultimately all become Mexicans.” The photographs of the Huichol by Pablo Ortiz Monasterio—taken on some twenty trips over the past three decades—prove that Lumholtz was fortunately, terribly wrong. They reveal abundant evidence of cultural survival (what the Huichol call “la costumbre”), made possible by their extraordinary resistance to the religious, nationalist, and economic forces that have long assaulted—and that continue to assault—Indigenous communities everywhere. Though Ortiz Monasterio is also an outsider, he does not operate—like Lumholtz or Diguet—as an old-fashioned preservationist, nor is he confident in the superiority of Western culture, nor is his work only destined for museum vitrines...

Documentary Photograph. Contemporary Inkjet on cotton. Limited edition of 5. Signed front and verso. Framed in lacquered black frame with spacer) The first person to photograph the Huichol in their remote communities in the inaccessible canyons of the Western Sierra Madre was probably the Norwegian anthropologist, Carl Lumholtz. He ventured into their territory in 1895, shortly before the arrival of the French naturalist and ethnographer Léon Diguet, who was also a photographer. Like so many who were engaged with documenting Indigenous peoples across the Americas in those brutal years of expansion and settlement, Lumholtz believed that the disappearance of his subjects was inevitable: “the weaker must succumb to the stronger, and the Indians will ultimately all become Mexicans.” The photographs of the Huichol by Pablo Ortiz Monasterio—taken on some twenty trips over the past three decades—prove that Lumholtz was fortunately, terribly wrong. They reveal abundant evidence of cultural survival (what the Huichol call “la costumbre”), made possible by their extraordinary resistance to the religious, nationalist, and economic forces that have long assaulted—and that continue to assault—Indigenous communities everywhere. Though Ortiz Monasterio is also an outsider, he does not operate—like Lumholtz or Diguet—as an old-fashioned preservationist, nor is he confident in the superiority of Western culture, nor is his work only destined for museum vitrines...

Fernando Bayona, Once Upon a Time: "Bicephalous". Fine Art Inkjet Print Sizes: S: 25.6 x 20.8 in. / Ed. 3 M: 41.7 x 33 in. / Ed. 3 L: 53.1 x 41.7 in. / Ed. 2 + 1A.P "The narrati...

Fernando Bayona, Circus Christi: "Crucifixión". Fine Art Inkjet Print Sizes: S: 25.6 x 20.8 in. / Ed. 3 M: 41.7 x 33 in. / Ed. 3 L: 53.1 x 41.7 in. / Ed. 2 + 1A.P "Circus Christi is based on the question: What would happen if Jesus was born on the periphery of any major metropolis in the last three decades and was a rock band lead singer? The result is a group of images that visually reconfigures the usual viacrucis in an imaginary full of social problems around sexual ambiguity, drugs, sex, violence and music. Beyond the apparent provocation, Bayona's atmospheres are inspired by traditional scenes inscribed in the history of art, whose synchronic representation and symbolism disputes the social constructions around "sin" and "temptation" while rejecting all kinds of censorship and advocating for freedom of worship...

'Harvest Dance' Limited edition archival photograph. Unframed, hand signed and numbered _________________ Late August, captured in the glow of the evening sun, my daughters join han...

Signed, dated and numbered by the artist (archival label, verso) Digital pigment print on archival paper 16 x 24 in, Edition of 20 30 x 45 in, Edition of 10 40 x 60 in, Edition of...

Series: Sirens Chromogenic Print on Kodak Endura Luster Paper All available sizes and editions: 20" x 30" 40" x 60" 48" x 72" 63" x 84" Editions of 3 + 2 Artist Proofs The idea behi...

Series: Submerged Chromogenic Print on Kodak Endura Luster Paper All available sizes and editions: 20" x 30" 40" x 60" 48" x 72" 63" x 84" Editions of 3 + 2 Artist Proofs Tyler Shie...

Series: Sirens Chromogenic Print on Kodak Endura Luster Paper All available sizes and editions: 20" x 30" 40" x 60" 48" x 72" 63" x 84" Editions of 3 + 2 Artist Proof The idea behin...

Series: Mouths Chromogenic Print on Kodak Endura Luster Paper All available sizes and editions: 22.5" x 30" 45" x 60" 56" x 72" 63" x 84" Editions of 3 + 2 Artist Proofs Tyler Shiel...