
Antioquia
2014
Antioquia brings together reclaimed wood, limestone, wax, hand-ground cochineal insects, and logwood extract in a compact yet commanding sculptural form that measures just over half a meter in height. The work is deeply material in its logic, drawing on substances that carry centuries of colonial history, trade, and bodily labor. Cochineal, harvested from insects cultivated across Mesoamerica and once prized as a luxury dye exported throughout the Spanish Empire, and logwood, another pigment extracted through brutal colonial supply chains in the Americas, are not used here as mere colorants but as carriers of memory. The result is a surface that feels simultaneously ancient and intimate, its palette earned rather than applied. Harold Mendez works at the intersection of history, loss, and the persistence of material evidence, and Antioquia exemplifies his ability to compress large geopolitical and personal narratives into modest, quietly charged objects. The title refers to the Colombian department known as the birthplace of significant cultural and political tensions within the country, a name that resonates with questions of belonging, displacement, and identity that recur throughout his practice. The reclaimed wood grounds the piece in ideas of salvage and continuity, while the limestone introduces a geological timescale that sits in productive tension with the ephemeral, organic origins of the pigments. For collectors, Antioquia represents a particularly focused example of Mendez's conceptual rigor, a work that rewards close looking and research in equal measure. Its relatively intimate scale belies the weight of its references, making it well-suited to both private contemplation and institutional dialogue. Currently presented through ICA Philadelphia, the piece is signed by the artist and available without a frame, its raw presentation consistent with the directness and honesty that defines Mendez's broader body of work.
- Medium
- Reclaimed wood, limestone, wax, hand ground cochineal insects, logwood extract
- Overall
- Signed
- Yes
- Spotted At
- Gallery · ICA Philadelphia
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