Castro, Jota (PE/BE)
Carlsberg Tap E
Jota Castro
Born 1965 in Lima, Peru
Lives in Brussels
The piece entitled China (2006) consists of 40 shoes hung up on the wall so as to form the word 'CHINA' in capital letters. At first glance, they look like top brand sports shoes such as Nike or Adidas. When seen close to, however, they turn out to be cheap imitations mass-produced in China. The work depicts the West's exploitation of cheap Chinese labour and China's liberal industrial policies, as well as highlighting the fact that the fashion ideals of the West have taken hold in China, where a large proportion of the shoes are sold.
Jota Castro is a lawyer and political scientist by training, with a long career as a
diplomat for the UN and the EU behind him. In the late 1990s, he decided to abandon his diplomatic career to become an artist. While this shift might seem a radical break, Castro himself sees it as a continuation of his work in international politics. Both art and diplomacy are about analysis, interpretation and devising ways of communicating that will facilitate the wide dissemination of one's ideas in society.
Castro concentrates on installations and performances, which are often about the
imbalances that are a feature of a globalized world. His themes include economics, oil, surveillance, sex, prostitution, skin colour and language. His style is frequently humorous, visually striking but also critical, as is the case with the performance Discrimination Day (2005), which was staged at Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Under a large banner with the work's title, Castro installed two entrances visitors had to pass through to gain access to the exhibition. The one was marked BLANCS /WHITE and the other AUTRES/ OTHERS, with the result that visitors were segregated by skin colour. While the same exhibition was seen by the totality of visitors, the artist expressed in visual terms a distinction that is continually being made without ever being articulated explicitly - as is also the case when the police stop a car with a young man behind the wheel, precisely on account of his youth, or when an appointments committee more or less consciously filters out ethnic minority candidates when applications are processed. Both this work and China, currently on display, are about how we relate to insiders and outsiders.
-NH
Lives in Brussels
The piece entitled China (2006) consists of 40 shoes hung up on the wall so as to form the word 'CHINA' in capital letters. At first glance, they look like top brand sports shoes such as Nike or Adidas. When seen close to, however, they turn out to be cheap imitations mass-produced in China. The work depicts the West's exploitation of cheap Chinese labour and China's liberal industrial policies, as well as highlighting the fact that the fashion ideals of the West have taken hold in China, where a large proportion of the shoes are sold.
Jota Castro is a lawyer and political scientist by training, with a long career as a
diplomat for the UN and the EU behind him. In the late 1990s, he decided to abandon his diplomatic career to become an artist. While this shift might seem a radical break, Castro himself sees it as a continuation of his work in international politics. Both art and diplomacy are about analysis, interpretation and devising ways of communicating that will facilitate the wide dissemination of one's ideas in society.
Castro concentrates on installations and performances, which are often about the
imbalances that are a feature of a globalized world. His themes include economics, oil, surveillance, sex, prostitution, skin colour and language. His style is frequently humorous, visually striking but also critical, as is the case with the performance Discrimination Day (2005), which was staged at Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Under a large banner with the work's title, Castro installed two entrances visitors had to pass through to gain access to the exhibition. The one was marked BLANCS /WHITE and the other AUTRES/ OTHERS, with the result that visitors were segregated by skin colour. While the same exhibition was seen by the totality of visitors, the artist expressed in visual terms a distinction that is continually being made without ever being articulated explicitly - as is also the case when the police stop a car with a young man behind the wheel, precisely on account of his youth, or when an appointments committee more or less consciously filters out ethnic minority candidates when applications are processed. Both this work and China, currently on display, are about how we relate to insiders and outsiders.
-NH