In denouncing the human and social drama that often plagues the over-populated capital cities in developing countries, Alexis Duque relies on just a few colors. Notwithstanding the use of acrylic paint, the artist makes the influence of illustration apparent, equally attending to all of the aspects of the painted surface without leaving anything to chance. He does not resort to the type of realistic painting style of some committed Latin American artists of the twentieth century. Rational and imaginary, often blended with a tinge of humor, Alexis’s work could well be called fantastical.
The Colombian artist introduces architectural features that are characteristic of the Western Civilization, from ancient Greece and Rome: columns, capitals, and niches. They are symbols of the bygone ruling culture and the aesthetic model of the European colonizers, now an integral part of daily life of the populations of Latin America.
Finally, a parallel could be drawn between Duque’s proposition and that of the French philosopher and art historian Georges Didi-Huberman (b.1953), who questions the portrayal of the people and their status as ‘extras” in Modern representation. Alexis Duque makes them ‘act” by their non-existence.
text by Claire Luna