Artist Profile: Carlos Jiménez Cahua | Socrates Sculpture Park

Carlos Jiménez Cahua, Hatun Rumiyoc, Etc., 2018, Photo by Sara Morgan

DISCOVER

Carlos Jiménez Cahua (b. Lima, Peru in 1986; lives and works in New York, NY) received his AB from Princeton University in 2008 and MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2012. He is a multimedia artist with a focus in photography. In the last two years, his work has begun to examine pre-Columbian cultural practices of Andean South America.

Jiménez Cahua has exhibited his works in solo exhibitions at Samsøñ, Boston, MA (2014) and Anastasia Photo, New York, NY (2009). The experimental project space, kijidome, he collaboratively runs with other artists was awarded the James and Audrey Foster Prize in 2015. His works have been exhibited in numerous group exhibitions, such as Bronx Calling, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY (2018), Imagined Communities, Nationalism, and Violence, Rubber Factory, New York, NY (2017), The Physically of Color, University of New Hampshire Museum of Art, Durham, NH (2015), and East Wing Biennial, Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK (2014), among others.

CONNECT

Web: carlosjimenezcahua.com

ENGAGE

Otocast:

Cahua spoke about his project for our audio tour of The Socrates Annual 2018 exhibition, available on the app Otocast (available for free download for iPhone and Android).

Listen now:

Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

Socrates Annual artist Carlos Jiménez Cahua’s takeover of the park continues today after technical difficulties yesterday. …. This is Cajarmaca, the city of first contact, in 1532, between European invaders and the sovereign of the Incan empire, Atawallpa, who himself was also termed the Inca. The precise site of this encounter is seen, centrally located in the left of this image, showing the city’s current main square, which is situated in the same area as the city’s original main square. . Just off the main square is located city’s only remaining Incan structure, termed, in English, the Ransom Room [Image 2]. It’s so called because of this bit of brutal history, which can be recited to you by nearly any Andean child or adult: Atawallpa was taken prisoner, and he convinced his Spanish captors to release him if, considering the room where he was being held, he would have it filled twice with silver and once with gold, as high as his hand would reach (a gesture often shown in his representations, even in tchotchke form [Image 3]). After accomplishing this, the Spanish with treasures in hand, still killed Atawallpa, by strangulation. . A visit to Cajamarca this summer during the fellowship period provided a solemn opportunity to see this structure, and it felt only necessary to replicate a stone from this room. . My dear cousin, Lesly, put her hand just close enough to one of the cornerstones [Image 4], so we had a frame of reference to get its exact dimensions. You can see my copy at the park [Image 5]. It’s the most precise facsimile of all the casts I made. And this copy, it’s fitting to offer I think—in comparison to the original—is oriented upside down. 2032 will be the quinticentenial of Atawallpa’s capture, and the demise of the last great Amerindian empire. The Inca is dead, long live the Inca. . This trip to Cajamarca (and other sites in my native Peru) was made possible with a grant from the Brown Arts Initiative (@baibrownu) and also kind support from Brown University’s Department of Visual Art (@brownvisualart). #SocratesSculpturePark #SocratesAnnual18 #CarlosJiménezCahua #HatunRumiyocEtc #HatunRumiyoc #TheIncaIsDeadLongLiveTheInca

A post shared by Socrates Sculpture Park (@socratespark) on Mar 14, 2019 at 6:34am PDT

View this post on Instagram

Socrates Annual artist Carlos Jiménez Cahua is taking over the Park’s account today. ……. This is Trujillo, a small Spanish city. In its main square is located a building called, in English, the Palace of the Conquest [Image 2], constructed with riches stolen from the Andean people just after contact. . On the façade of this building is carved the Pizarro family coat of arms [Image 3], which, apart from the regalia typical to the format, features a remarkable element. . At the bottom of this coat of arms is shown the captured Incan emperor, Atawallpa, shackled at the neck, his hands reaching into treasures. And surrounding him are his generals, also shackled at the neck [Image 4]. . This is, it’s almost too obvious to offer, a macabre and grotesque representation, but one that is also incredibly honest to the history we’re considering here. . During the fellowship period, I traveled to the Old World precisely to encounter this grisly relief, with the purpose of gathering video footage to make a visual tribute to Atawallpa and his compatriots. Incan religion held Atawallpa and sovereigns before him to be the direct descendants of the Sun, so as an elegiac gesture, I filmed Atawallpa and his men at sunrise, noon, and sunset. The last image shows a still from this 3-channel video, a work in progress titled, “Atawallpa, Chalcuchimac, Rumiñawi, Quizquiz, etc.” . This trip to Trujillo was made possible with a grant from the Brown Arts Initiative (@baibrownu) and also kind support from Brown University’s Department of Visual Art (@brownvisualart). #SocratesSculpturePark #SocratesAnnual18 #CarlosJiménezCahua #HatunRumiyocEtc #HatunRumiyoc #TheIncaIsDeadLongLiveTheInca

A post shared by Socrates Sculpture Park (@socratespark) on Mar 14, 2019 at 10:02am PDT

View this post on Instagram

This is the last installment of 2018 Fellow Carlos Jiménez Cahua’s Instagram takeover. Make sure to see his piece at the Park, on view until March 24! …. Technically, there was a lot to the project (e.g., woodworking, welding, concrete casting, etc.), and thankfully, Socrates had nearly innumerable studio resources, without which the project would not have been possible. However, one thing we didn’t have was a concrete vibrator, so we had to find alternatives with each casting, to make sure air pockets were minimized. . Here, for our biggest cast by far, totaling ~30 bags of concrete, we placed a rod centrally underneath the pallet upon which the cast was built. This gave us a fulcrum, so that we could agitate ~2500 pounds of wet concrete. The result from this cast is seen in the second image. . Finally, I can’t offer enough thanks to Socrates. The fellowship and everything about it was some of the most fun I’ve had, and the opportunity to make work to be so intimately engaged by a larger audience has been unforgettable. Further, I’d like to particularly thank the following individuals (family, friends, staff, etc.) and institutions whose support around the fellowship period were indispensable. . Particularly with the persons listed, some helped by lifting 80 lb. bags of concrete and sweated for it, and others, just as importantly, offered kind expertise, advice, and even just patience and kindness. Everyone here had a part in making this work possible, and I offer dear and earnest gratitude (in no particular order): . Easter, Socrates Sculpture Park, Brown Arts Initiative, Fabian, Ronen, Amelia, Agustin, Elliott, Lia, Jordan, Chris, Brown’s Department of Visual Art, Ignacio, Yousif, Leilah, Bronx AIM, John, Rikke, Katie, Joe, Lili, Anne, Jess, Andrew, Chris, Olanda, Celeste, Lesly, Chino, Karen, Elenora, Zach, Audrey, Kristine, Leander, Sara, Spacetime, Nate, Thomas, Greyz, Terrence, Nick, Alex, RB, Megan, Melissa, Macho, Shane, Adam, Kathy, and Camilo . Thank you, Gracias, Añay #SocratesSculpturePark #SocratesAnnual18 #CarlosJiménezCahua #HatunRumiyocEtc #HatunRumiyoc #sculpture #publicart #art #nyc #casting

A post shared by Socrates Sculpture Park (@socratespark) on Mar 14, 2019 at 4:21pm PDT