Carlos Motta

Lower East Side Printshop published a portfolio of 10 prints, When, if ever, does one draw a line under the horrors of history in the interest of truth and reconciliation? A timeline of the recent political history of ten countries in conflict by artist Carlos Motta through the Printshop’s Special Editions in 2008. These prints depict the outline of the geographical map of 10 countries, which are going through serious political conflicts that have seemed irreconcilable.  A small reader that presents a very detailed chronology of the political history of each country accompanies the prints. The work advocates for the construction of a space of memory and remembrance in order to think again about the horrors of history.

The countries are: Colombia, Cuba, Iraq, North and South Korea, Myanmar, Palestine, Sudan, Tibet (China), Zimbabwe and a (utopian) reconfiguration of the map of Central and South America to reflect the wish of continental political and cultural unity.

Carlos Motta is a Columbian-born, New York based, interdisciplinary artist. Motta’s work is in the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Guggenheim Museum, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Barcelona; Museu Fundaçao Serralves, Porto; and Museo de Arte de Banco de la República, Bogotá; among others.