SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 12 Aug. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Tenerife Espacio de las Artes (TEA) will conclude the exhibition ‘Double Blind’ by Adrián Alemán (La Laguna, 1963) on Sunday 25 August. This visual essay constructs a unique genealogy of appearances based on historical remains transformed into images to explore the rituals of learning that shape public perception and the communal sharing of memories and narratives.
The artist will offer a complimentary guided tour of the exhibition on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. as a farewell gesture. The exhibition, held at Santa Cruz de Tenerife (the Añaza Masonic Lodge No. 270), presents a comprehensive narrative of modernity.
Alemán’s work underscores the continual display of material reality and language as genuine facets of nature which in turn form the foundational learning experiences of individuals within the societal framework.
Curated by Néstor Delgado, ‘Double Blind’ showcases an unprecedented project encompassing a post-documentary photographic series, a drawing project, and a literary work. The exhibition, with free entry, is open for visitation from Tuesday to Sunday, including public holidays, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Alemán poses questions in this project, such as what revelations occur when previously concealed aspects are unveiled, and what insights are gained when exploring hidden facets not only by those in authority but also by the creators themselves. When a location is erased from history, it enters the realm of representation, where architectural vestiges are engulfed by imagery.
The exhibition features photographs with titles such as Double Blind 1 (Camera), Double Blind 2 (Étant Donnés), Double Blind 3 (Laboratory), among others. Additionally, there are pieces focusing on writing exercises like Doble ciego 7 (Diagramas) and the edition of oqp, resembling a book structured into four chapters for a classroom reading experience to transform the author’s narrative into a tangible object.
Alemán resides and works in Tenerife, serving as an artist and an educator/researcher at the University of La Laguna. His work is marked by its resolute essence, stemming from his choice to engage in the artistic realm within a peripheral context where visibility and the art market hold less significance. This dedication to artistic undertakings as a self-sufficient realm for exploration, development, and liberation aims to contribute to the affirmation of subordinate identities in order to confront the colonialist perspective.
His creative process traverses locations, memories, narratives, and images, yielding texts, photographs, drawings, and objects that both miss and resonate with their origins. This form of retrospective archaeology unveils a stratification of the present, urging a hermeneutic scrutiny of the imaginary to unearth obscured truths within visual darkness. This historical interpretation views history as a dialectical evolution wherein untold pasts clash with a quest for recognition in a narrative that aligns with an alternative reality.
Alemán’s work navigates discussions around language, symbols, and their integration within the societal structure: In En la circularidad del deseo (1990), he analysed the indexical nature of objects; El sueño evangélico de la colectividad (1990) recreated disciplinarian mechanisms prompting reflection on the correlation between community and representation; SOCIUS (2010-12), featuring a peculiar nautical salon symbolising an entire island, embodied the repercussions of power dynamics on the territorial imprints; and Dialécticas criollas (2017-incomplete) fostered an exploratory study on discursive convergences shaping landscape depictions amidst 19th-century colonial tensions, with enduring impacts on contemporary cultural narratives.
