ARCOmadrid • Booth 9D25 • 06.03.–10.03.2024
For this years ARCOmadrid, Soy Capitán presented works by Shahin Afrassiabi, Paloma Proudfoot, Grace Weaver, and Caroline Wong.
The practice of Shahin Afrassiabi (b. 1963, IR) is rooted in conceptual exploration, producing works that traverse various mediums and intersect in dynamic ways. Utilizing materials such as plaster, paper, oil paint, and photography, Afrassiabi crafts sculptures, paintings, and installations influenced by architectural and geometric elements. His creations defy categorization, embracing a fluidity that fosters organic discovery within his body of work.
Paloma Proudfoot (b. 1992, GB) employs sculpture, clothes-making, text, and performance to intertwine personal narratives, historical allusions, and contemporary cultural commentary. Seeking articulation for amorphous feelings such as shame, grief and strength, she delves into the metaphorical and narrative potential of materials. In addition to her individual practice, Proudfoot collaborates with various artists and groups, including artist and choreographer Aniela Piasecka and the performance ensemble ‘Stasis’.
Grace Weaver (b. 1989, USA) has created a painterly universe of the western modern world. Her works can be read as social commentary of city life and its inhabitants: working in home office, leisure time in bars or recreational activities done outside, the scenarios stand in as markers of the mundane, although her protagonists oftentimes seem out of place. With their bodies moving clumsily in space and with an inward gaze they seem overwhelmed by the complexities of everyday life. Combining color and story her works offer vast possibilities of interpretation depict the vividness of modern experience.
The work of Caroline Wong (b. 1986, MY) is closely linked with the exploration and exaltation of female desire. Wong’s paintings are vibrant and energetic, encapsulating life’s essence, joy, and desire unabashedly. Through her expansive pastel drawings, she delves into themes surrounding the empowerment of female pleasure, or the dropping of societal norms and self-imposed restraint.
