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Lot Essay
Guillermo Kuitca knew from an early age that he would be an artist. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1961, his parents, descending from Russian Jewish immigrants, were very supportive. He studied almost exclusively with Ahuva Szlimowicz (a surrealist trained in the tradition of Batlle Planas) and had his first solo exhibition at the age of thirteen, at the storied Galería Lirolay. After seeing Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal perform in Argentina, he traveled to Germany to work briefly with her troupe. The theatrical has thus had a lasting influence. Kuitca's large-scale paintings of the early 1980s depicted cavernous, sparsely furnished interiors in which Lilliputian characters gesture hieroglyphically.
Kuitca's family was not directly affected during the Dirty War. In Argentina during this period, the military dictatorship (1976-1983) disappeared 30,000 of its own citizens: kidnapping, torturing and killing anyone considered subversive or dangerous, intellectual or outspoken. This culture of fear and repression bred a damaged society; everyone knew someone who had disappeared. The lingering after effects of such surveillance, containment, and malevolent control can also be read in Kuitca's work.
Cuando muere un sueño corre mucha sangre shows three stages: the first stage shows a small podium, a desk and chairs, the second stage that shows a dark pool-like pit with a chair and the third setting shows a bed with yellow covers partly on top of another small podium. The entire space is enclosed by a dark wall with the title text on top. In the left background there is a door, giving a way out of this confined setting. Predominantly present in the three stages are the microphone-stands, which give the possibility to address a large crowd. The fallen chair on the first stage suggests that there was human interaction, while the chair on the edge of the pit in the center shows the danger of falling into a hazardous depth. The bed in the third stage is one of his most used iconographic elements. As the artist has mentioned when speaking about his obsessive use of the bed as leitmotif: it is the setting for so many human activities: from conception, to birth and finally, to death. All of life's major events take place in bed.
Although there are no people depicted in this work there is a clear tension present. The title of the painting, translated to When a dream dies, a lot of blood flows, defines the sinister character of the painting. Do the microphones refer to the Argentinian propaganda machine during the Dirty War, killing all dreams and therewith hope for the future? Kuitca's works do not very often have a completely clear iconography. He does however succeed in creating this sinister but intriguing atmosphere that leaves room for interpretation.
Kuitca's family was not directly affected during the Dirty War. In Argentina during this period, the military dictatorship (1976-1983) disappeared 30,000 of its own citizens: kidnapping, torturing and killing anyone considered subversive or dangerous, intellectual or outspoken. This culture of fear and repression bred a damaged society; everyone knew someone who had disappeared. The lingering after effects of such surveillance, containment, and malevolent control can also be read in Kuitca's work.
Cuando muere un sueño corre mucha sangre shows three stages: the first stage shows a small podium, a desk and chairs, the second stage that shows a dark pool-like pit with a chair and the third setting shows a bed with yellow covers partly on top of another small podium. The entire space is enclosed by a dark wall with the title text on top. In the left background there is a door, giving a way out of this confined setting. Predominantly present in the three stages are the microphone-stands, which give the possibility to address a large crowd. The fallen chair on the first stage suggests that there was human interaction, while the chair on the edge of the pit in the center shows the danger of falling into a hazardous depth. The bed in the third stage is one of his most used iconographic elements. As the artist has mentioned when speaking about his obsessive use of the bed as leitmotif: it is the setting for so many human activities: from conception, to birth and finally, to death. All of life's major events take place in bed.
Although there are no people depicted in this work there is a clear tension present. The title of the painting, translated to When a dream dies, a lot of blood flows, defines the sinister character of the painting. Do the microphones refer to the Argentinian propaganda machine during the Dirty War, killing all dreams and therewith hope for the future? Kuitca's works do not very often have a completely clear iconography. He does however succeed in creating this sinister but intriguing atmosphere that leaves room for interpretation.