Artmedia Gallery is proud to present national archive, a glimpse of the work project of the same title that Nascimento & Lovera have been developing for years.

The authors have conceived this project in the ways historical narrative is constructed as fiction. They have based their strategy on the making up or assembling of inventories. Each inventory of the archive's contents, as a meeting point and contextualization of the various elements belonging to it, develops a possible reading of the archive—namely, the “national archive” works as a repository that contains multiple archives and elicits different readings. As a consequence, each specific inventory develops its potential for the deconstruction of History as Grand Narrative.

The “national archive,” understood as a memory device, includes press photos, movies, TV shows, documents and Internet contents, among other resources. Besides, these inventories can be configured differently, as factual exhibits, printed books, lectures, or any other means of display and communication.

The present exhibition incorporates infographics, statistics, and press photos associated with a graphics reference to the constructivist mural Policromías (Polychromes) by Mateo Manaure, placed in Caracas outside the headquarters of the Compañía Anónima Nacional Teléfonos de Venezuela (CANTV), a company now in the hands of the government. Through a factographic plotline, the exhibition explores the characteristics of the current encounter between the art discourse of Constructivism in Venezuela, the political echoes of the mentioned artwork, and the vision of the country in the unofficial local press.

About the artists:

Nascimento/Lovera live and work in Caracas. They recently participated in the 30th Sao Paulo Biennial,  Brazil. Among other events and exhibitions, they have exhibited their work in Seis visiones de la Caracas Moderna (Six Visions of Modern Caracas), Cine La Previsora, Caracas; ¡URGENTE! 41SNA, Cali, Colombia; GUERRILLA IN BABYLON, Barcelona, Spain; Buried Mirrors, Bard College, New York; Anthology Film Archives, New York & Gasworks, London.

About the curator:

José Antonio Navarrete is an art critic and curator based in Miami. He is currently researching on Intellectual Networks: Art and Politics in Latin-America, joining a team of international scholars sponsored by the JP Getty Foundation’s program “Crossing Art Histories,” 2012-2013. At the moment, he is working on other curatorial projects in the United States and abroad.

About the gallery:

Artmedia Gallery is dedicated to promote and exhibit contemporary art, providing a space for reflection and critique with strong attention to photography and video.