A wooden bust of singer and mass idol Justin Bieber or a sculpture of his bare, tattooed torso embodying Jesus Christ himself, video fragments of Muhammed Ali’s famous boxing matches or an immersive recreation of the 1966 World Cup between England and West Germany, are part of it. of the history of contemporary culture and also some of the works that the Hawaiian artist Paul Pfeiffer exhibits at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao starting this Saturday in the largest exhibition of the multidisciplinary artist in Europe.
Born in 1966 in Honolulu (Hawaii) and living in New York, Pfeiffer shows in his exhibition Prologue to the story of the birth of freedom around thirty works covering different disciplines such as video, photography, sculpture and installations. The most famous characters in his work are global icons such as pop music stars like Justin Bieber or Michael Jackson, actors or athletes, and he does it to show the veneration and objectification of mass culture about them. “This use of celebrity culture also speaks to the global diffusion and consumption of images,” they explain from the museum.
“His work elucidates how audience-related mechanisms, from architectural spaces to the distribution or post-production of images, shape our sense of identity, community and sometimes nationality. By recreating or restaging common experiences in which emotions are heightened and the individual is relegated, the artist demonstrates how these events induce feelings of belonging and identity, while shedding light on the ever-present issues of difference and otherness”, they detail after the presentation of the exhibition. is commissioned by Clara Kim, chief curator and director of conservation, and Paula Kroll, curatorial assistant at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and, in collaboration with Marta Blàvia, curator of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
One of the artist’s goals is to use the architectural form of the stadium or stage to show not only how great spectacles are erected, but also how the body politic (of a nation, a community, of a society) is defined and questioned. in relation to said environments. “Pfeiffer’s skillful manipulation of footage from sporting events, concerts, and Hollywood films using old digital editing computer programs presaged the dominance of GIFs and anticipated the mass circulation of short video clips today” , notes the museum.
Among the Hawaiian artist’s most notable works is the series Incarnator (Incarnator2018–present), in which the artist worked in collaboration with a series of “embodiers”, sculptors from Seville, Betis Pampanga in the Philippines, and Tlaxcala in Mexico, known for their production of life-size wooden sculptures nature of saints and religious figures for Catholic churches and private worship. With this technique, he created a bust of Justin Bieber on one side, his torso tattooed on the other, the crotch with underwear from the Calvin Klein brand sponsored by Bieber and an arm also tattooed. According to the artist, it is a contemporary incarnation of Jesus Christ. “The production of these sculptures references colonial trade routes dating back to the 16th century, highlighting the work and craftsmanship that underpin centuries-old religious traditions and their connections to the history of global networks that continue today” , underlines the art gallery.
During the presentation of the exhibition, this Friday at the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Pffeiffer defended, despite the fact that his childhood was spent between the Philippines and the United States, the “transnational vision of his work” which allows a analysis based on a “global interpretation”. . » photographs and videos related to North American sports. As detailed, he is very committed to the Philippine context and its unique fusion of racial, religious and cultural traditions, marked by the legacy of colonialism as a former Spanish colony and later as a territory of the United States, as well than through global migration for professional reasons. in more recent times.
Concerning Bilbao, he admitted to having attended several bullfights in Vista Alegre square, in addition to the last two Athletic matches. All as part of a research project aimed at “transferring the reality of Bilbao to the United States”. His goal with his work is to analyze how images shape the viewers who consume them. Even if, as he himself explains, “the same question always arises”: “Who uses who?” “Is it the image that makes us or are we the ones who make the images?” asks the artist whose exhibition, sponsored by BBK, will be available at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao until March 16, 2025.
