Jorge Mañes Rubio for HRW

Jorge Mañes Rubio

-In what way is ART a tool for activism?

I think art can be a way to visualize or experience more personal narratives for our future. It might be a long way until those visions crystalize into something palpable, but art can definitely make these ideas more memorable, powerful, and ultimately real.

-In what way does your chosen piece for HRW reflect 2020?

This piece explores the ancestral idea of material culture being embedded with a life force, a spiritual quality that is activated through ceremonial exchange, ancestor worship and other forms of ritual. Made over several months of lockdown, I feel it reflects 2020 because it speaks about constant human renovation and the possibility of finding comfort in times of upheaval.

-What gives you hope?

To know that things can and will change.

BIO

There's a compassionate, embracing energy to Jorge Mañes Rubio's work. His sculptures, images and installations are embedded with a spiritual presence; they draw us in, make us more aware, more human. He's on a journey to accomplish something significant, to fulfill a vision—in a big way. It's inexorable. Often using common materials and techniques, Mañes Rubio recontextualizes the overlooked in our society and reveals it to us in a way that makes us know more about what we thought we already understood.

Jorge Mañes Rubio is co-founder of the Design Museum Dharavi, a TED Senior Fellow, and a recipient of the S&R Foundation Washington Award. He has recently collaborated with the European Space Agency and the Center for Indigenous Arts in Mexico. His work is regularly exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Seoul, Victoria & Albert Museum London, and La Triennale di Milano.

www.jorgemanesrubio.com Instagram: @jorgemanesrubio

This artwork is located in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. WILLAS contemporary will facilitate artwork release within 21 days after payment. Can be picked up by the buyer, or shipped at the buyer´s expense.