Politics and Celebrity

From July 24 to September 29, the Centro Cultural Matucana 100, presents a group of exhibitions under the umbrella title "Politics and Celebrity." Curated by Paco Barragan, the five exhibitions—which include both solo and group shows—broadly reflect on politics and celebrity as paradigms of 21st century society. The exhibition titled "Intimate Strangers: Politics as Celebrity, Celebrity as Politics," consists of works by 40 Chilean and international artists whose works reflect on and question politics and celebrity. Some of the artists included in this exhibition are: Ai Weiwei, Kepa Garraza, Marina Abramovic, Ismael Frigerio, Arturo Duclos, Federico Solmi, Santiago Sierra/Jorge Galindo, Enrique Marty, Marc Bijl, Flavia Contreras, Marta Minujín, Alexis Esquivel, Walter Bortolossi José Ángel Toirac, Martín Sastre and Melvin Martínez, among others. The solo exhibition titled "Antonio Cortés-Rolón: an Actor in the White House" by Puerto Rican artist Antonio Cortés-Rolón overtly portrays the fruitful relations between the White House and Hollywood stars through the depiction of personalities like Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood, Elvis Presley and Jennifer López. The group exhibition titled "Wir sind Utopia: the Artist as Activist" delves into art as social activism through video works by Christian Jankowski and Cristina Lucas from the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Castile and León, Spain, as well as by Chilean artists Cecilia Vicuña and Gianfranco Foschino. The installation titled 1 de Mayo de 2011 (May 1, 2011) by Alfredo Jaar is exhibited in Chile for the first time. A work that references the iconic image of the famous "Situation Room" by Pete Souza, taken at the White House at the moment that president Barack Obama, secretary of state Hillary Clinton and vice president Joe Biden were watching the death of Osama bin Laden. The group of exhibitions ends with the show titled "Dalípolitical: Communism, Falangism and Francoism in the life of Salvador Dalí," an exhibition of documents and files that analyze the little known political side of the surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, one of the artists that pioneered the use of the mass media. For more information visit: http://www.m100.cl