OUR WEEKLY PROCRASTINATION

Narcissus, 2002

Line of Destiny, 2006

Shower Curtains, 1985-1986.

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Photos: The Procrastinator (some) Times.

Last week we checked some fantastic exhibitions in Paris, being one of the most amazing and together the one of the Colombian artist Óscar Muñoz at the Jeu de Paume Musée: Protographs, that spans nearly forty years of Muñoz career. Curated by José Roca and María Wills Londoño and co-produced by the Museo de Arte del Banco de la República de Bogotá.

Muñoz mainly explores the role of the photographic image, especially portraits and self-portraits in relationship with memory and ephemerality, and he do it exploring in very experimental, sometimes impossible supports and formats, from video and installations, to glass, mirrors, water and shower curtains. His work is both deeply social and truly innovative. I was moved, surprised and inspired throughout the whole exhibition.

Roca and Wills Londoño point out that if the ontology of photography lies in fixing a moving image for all time, extracting it from life, it can be said that Oscar Muñoz's work is located in the temporal space prior (or subsequent) to the true decisive moment when the image is fixed: that proto-moment when the image is finally about to become photography, hence the title of the exhibition.

One of my favorite pieces was the video/portrait Línea del destino [Line of Destiny, 2006], "in which Muñoz looks at his reflection on the surface of water held in the palms of his hands. The reflected image forms and dissolves constantly as the water flows through his fingers, revealing a fluid portrait doomed to be effaced," as explained in the exhibition catalogue.

At the Jeu de Paume Musée you can also see a very complete retrospective of Kati Horna's work, another great discovery (for me),  and Kapwani Kiwanga's Maji Maji exhibition. The museum is right next to Concorde (1, Place de la Concorde, Paris 8eme), a very convenient location if you are in a hyper-touristic trip, and if you live in Paris, seriously don't miss out on this, c'est de bonne procrastination pour la rentrée!