Lo Bravo y Lo Manso

Lo Bravo and Manso brings together the latest works by Santiago Reyes Villaveces, whose concerns revolve around constant themes in art such as the presence / absence of the body, the materiality of the work, the consonance of the opposites and at the same time, it deals with questions about matters as the system of the mineral world and its relationship with the construction of the sociopolitical history of Colombia.

The telluric system that has modified the morphology of the planet and has influenced the origin and disappearance of animal and plant species, has also interfered in the creation of the narrative of history in multiple circumstances. For example, the explosion of the Ruiz snow mountain in 1985 that caused one of the most devastating tragedies in our history, coincides with the attack on the palace of justice that triggered a social catastrophe from which the country still does not recover.

The universe contains laws that do not belong to the Western moral logic and manifests itself in a series of forces ranging from the mild to the rough and vice versa, without distinguishing in their consequences. The force that precipitates an event, calms down creating another reality and this apparent state of stillness also causes another series of accidents that are exhibited in physical, historical, symbolic or poetic dimensions.

Santiago Reyes Villaveces´practice follows a material investigation on structures, assemblages, and dynamics that evidence states of transitivity and precariousness. The works comprise installations, sculptures, drawings, and photographs that address different relations of temporal indetermination. They transform, determine, modify, and interfere with the spaces in which they operate; affecting the way in which the spectator occupies and perceives physical space.
The different materials that Reyes uses are characterised by notions of tension, scale, volume, weight, gravity, surface, pressure, contention, resistance, depth and limit. Such notions configure systems that produce new relationships between spaces, architectures and the bodies of the spectators.

His works explore a latent architectural sensibility that is evident in precarious structures; mostly visible in—but not limited to—everyday urban life in Latin American cities. The architectural mediations I address relate urban detri-tus, overlooked by products of construction, and improvised temporary structures, underscoring a latent sophistication in anonymous ways of doing.