Artist, architect and filmmaker, Alfredo Jaar carries out his proposals and critical interventions mainly through photography, video and installation. In his work he often explores the role of images in the communication of a message, using the language of publicity and advertising on screens, fences and light boxes to talk about migration conflicts, geopolitical and social crises, violence and consumer culture. In Terra Non Descoperta, the artist reflects on the discovery of America and how, five hundred years later, this land continues to be exploited by its colonizers. Jaar quotes a text from Christopher Columbus in which he describes his obsession with finding wealth and gold when he arrives on the continent. The images glimpsed in mirrors show workers in a Brazilian goldmine, the continuing legacy of colonial interests.
Image: Courtesy the artist, New York