artnexus #12

Miguel Ángel Ríos (1943) is an Argentinian artist born in the northern province of Catamarca. After studying at the National Academy of Fine Arts and teaching at the Universities of Tucumán and Buenos Aires, he began to work mainly in New York and Mexico City from the mid-1970s.

Although separated from his roots, Ríos has not forgotten his country. References to the land, the sky, the geography, and history of his country constantly reappear in his work, although this doesn’t mean a lack of interest in other problems and contexts. The historicist concern—which is so characteristic of post-modern ideology—leads him to review multiple historical facets, to examine different sides of the same coin. These multiple histories propose the rethinking of the relations of dependency established in Latin America since colonial times, which are projected in many of the situations found at the turn of this century, while also allowing Ríos to be moved by and analyze other events, such as the Gulf War. In this particular review of history, both past and present are combined with the purpose of showing the many different interpretations and the manifold manipulations to which we have been subject.

The materials which the artist uses are very diverse: painting, ceramics, stone, rope, rusted steel sheets, and folded cardboard, which he uses to create "retables", boxes, and, more recently, maps that propose a visual and critical interpretation of events which were at one time or another the “official history.”

IVONNE PINI