Courtesy of the Artist and Tate Liverpool
El Autobùs
Sol Calero
Tate Liverpool
June 14 - November 10, 2019
More details on: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-liverpool/exhibition/sol-calero-el-autobus
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Tate Liverpool presents a new commission by Sol Calero (b. 1982). For her first museum display in the UK, Calero brings to the gallery a brightly coloured, immersive installation that explores themes of cultural stereotypes and the tourism industry.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela and based in Berlin, Sol Calero’s work is inspired by her birthplace. She explores themes of epresentation, identity, displacement and marginalisation, all informed by her own perspective as a migrant. Calero often refers to her experience of living between two cultures and resulting mixed identity. Entitled El Autobús 2019, Calero presents an installation inspired by a recent journey through Latin America. This features a vibrant new mural, painted in-situ around the gallery walls enclosing a bus-like structure.
From Mexico to Argentina public buses are richly decorated vehicles, typically incorporating religious and folk iconography. Locals often travel long distances on these buses, coming into the city centre from the suburbs, or travelling to work or school in other towns. However, for the tourist, the bus is a vehicle of leisure, demonstrating the divide between those for whom the every-day commute is a necessity and those who choose to use local buses in search of exotic adventure. El Autobús explores these themes, identifying that while global tourism has become more accessible, this accessibility largely applies to those from affluent western nations. Further to this, Calero explores tourism marketing and how it contributes to perceptions of places that are often at odds with reality. Latin America becomes seen as an idealised place – an image rooted in cliché and stereotypes that fails to recognise its complex and diverse cultures.
The work invites visitors to immerse themselves in an audio-visual experience taking them on a guided tour that blurs fantasy and reality. Footage shot during Calero’s own travels is combined with a fictionalised audio guide, promising romantic visions of destinations that will never be reached.
Meanwhile the floor-to-ceiling mural will envelope visitors with a landscape of patterns, panoramic views, floral motifs and architectural elements.
Born in 1982 in Venezuela Sol Calero moved to Europe in 1999 and is now based in Berlin, where with artist Christopher Kline she co-runs a project space, entitled Kinderhook & Caracas, so named after their hometowns. She has exhibited extensively across Europe with recent shows in Germany, and France as well as Melbourne, Australia Sol Calero: El Autobús is curated by Kasia Redzisz, Senior Curator, with Laura Bruni, Assistant Curator, Tate Liverpool.
