Luis Miguel Bendana will present a series of new wall works of poured latex on custom machine-knit polyester. Utilizing a hand-operated knitting machine to produce a diaphanous mesh fabric, the artist’s pictorial ground is composed of a slinky fishnet knit that is both machined and idiosyncratic. The constrictive rectilinear yardage is made static by the addition of colored liquid latex, permanently expanding the tension of the knit into an irregular form. Occasionally the knit is left untreated and sags and stretches flimsily, recalling a garment or bodily presence, while the turbid clots of latex are a visceral reminder of fetish and flesh. Collage elements culled from the artist’s archive of paper scraps are affixed to the surface of the works, in this case ephemera from European gay bars and American Christian propaganda pamphlets.
The strategy of collage is repeated as a curatorial gesture, and also included in the exhibition are two representations of fellow Nicaraguan, Bianca Jagger: A polaroid of Jagger from 1979 taken by Andy Warhol, and a found video from 2017 of Jagger leading a protest in Nicaragua against the impending Canal de Nicaragua, which is currently under construction by the Ortega government.
Commissioned by Nicola Lees, 80WSE.
