Artmedia Gallery is pleased to present Stray Dog, a selection of photographs by Roberto Gómez from the series Species of Objects, conceived by the artist with pictures taken in different locations around the world between 2006 and 2012. In this body of work, the artist explores the role of objects in the public urban contemporary space.

The research underpinnings this series lies in the encounter between photography as an artistic practice and the transdisciplinary visual practices informed by sociology and urban anthropology. In 2006, while still a student at the New World School of the Arts, Gómez began photographing objects that revealed a human imprint related to the economic, social and cultural exchanges that take place within cities among low-income sectors of the population. 

More than giving an account of the symbolic connotations of the material and the structural condition of objects, Gómez was seduced by their possibilities for change and the redefinition of their function in the sphere of social relations. In other words, he was attracted by objects as carriers of the behavioral modes— modes which are fluid, dynamic and variable.

It then became necessary for him to make this exploration while considering the global dimension of the problem. Gómez was aware that contemporary globalization processes demonstrate how, in the big cities —both in the East and the West— but more in those with high rates of poverty, people develop a culture transformative of objects; thus meeting their subsistence needs.

Following this premise, more than fixing his attention on the concrete social-historical contexts, Gómez moved through many different settings to find the forms of production and reproduction of this popular urban culture that, to underscore the concept, becomes global. From New Delhi, San Salvador, Mexico City, Miami, Eleuthera or Beijing —to name just a few of the places that, with his camera, he has traveled so far— have come the images from “Species of Objects.”

The work brought together in this exhibition is conceptually loaded with symbols that impact the viewer bluntly. With an absolute economy of visual resources, Stray Dog draws a detailed and disturbing chapter in the political economy that signals conditions of contemporary society.

About the artist:

Roberto Gómez was born in San José, Costa Rica, in 1983. He lives and works in Miami, Florida. He received his Bachelors in Fine Arts from the New World School of The Arts, University of Florida. His work has been included in shows like Burst Project Art Fair, Miami Beach Art Deco Welcome Center, and 80 Inches of Art, Sagamore Hotel, Miami Beach, both in 2011. Stray Dog is his first solo show.

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