William Cordova is an established Peruvian-American artist represented in New York City by Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
William Cordova “Smoke Signals” Sculpting in Time” is at Sikkema Jenkins & Co in Chelsea, April 7 – May 13, 2017. The exhibition opens with a reception on Thursday, April 6, 2017 at 6pm.
William Cordova Channels Andes Spirits
The Lima-born artist often references human rights. Today, he lives and works between Lima, Miami, and New York City.
Human rights, native relations with the land, and questions of spirituality are very unsettled in the Andes region. Lately the same issues have been gaining importance here at home.
Cordova leverages his Peruvian ancestry to question social issues that plague our contemporary society. It’s beautiful to see what is essentially an Indigenous perspective, cast over and into our modern lives.
Cordova connects with architecture in a very Latin American way. Perhaps this sensitivity has to do with the post-war boom that rained concrete buildings onto American jungles and mountains, then relocated rural populations into forests of cement.
The disruption to people whose spirit is tied to the land is profound. The impact is worsened by the anti-social nature of modern architecture, and the brutal legacy of colonial caste systems.
About 500 generations ago, Native Americans were Asian. There are similarities in Asian and Native American spiritual concepts that show up here.
The ancient mountain cities of the Andes were holy places. We rarely get to see these spirits in New York represented with such elegance.
We don’t seem to be doing a very good job managing our world. Maybe we have something to learn from Cordova’s “insider-outsider” perspective. It can only come from someone who is of both worlds.
The image is courtesy of the gallery. For more information, visit www.SikkemaJenkinsCo.com
