Ben Luke talks to Alfredo Jaar about his influences – from writers to filmmakers, musicians and, of course, other artists – and the cultural experiences that have shaped his life and work.
Jaar, who was born in 1956 in Santiago, Chile and has been based in New York since the early 1980s, addresses social injustice, human suffering, state-sponsored violence and power imbalances between the north and the south of the world.
Installation taken from Alfredo Jaar If it’s about us, it’s about you (2023) at the Goodman Gallery, London
Courtesy of the artist and the gallery
It also explores how these issues are presented in the international media. He reacted to some of the most disturbing moments in recent human history, from the military coup and its aftermath in his native Chile in 1973, and the Rwandan genocide in the 1990sFor wars and covert operations carried out by Western powers for several decades, and the relentless movement of refugees around the world. He did this through uncompromising, searing, yet often deeply moving installations in multiple media.
Among other things, Jaar discusses the profound influence of John Cage, Hans Haacke and Marcel Duchamp, his fascination with Pier Paolo Pasolini, a transformative experience watching Simone Forti and the poetry of Ben Okri. Plus, he gives insight into his life in the studio and answers our usual questions, including the ultimate: “What is art for?”
Installation taken from Alfredo Jaar If it’s about us, it’s about you (2023) at the Goodman Gallery, London
Courtesy of the artist and the gallery
• Alfredo Jaar: If it concerns us, it concerns you, Goodman Gallery, London April 18-May 24
• Alfredo Jaar: 50 years later, Projects Cecilia BrunsonLondon, 19 April–19 May 2023
• One million German passports, Pinacoteca del ModernMunich, March 29-August 27
• Alfredo’s exhibition for the 11th Hiroshima Art Prize at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Hiroshima City, Japan, from July 22 to October 15, and an exhibition at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Santiago, Chile opens September 14
The next season of A brush with… begins May 31. You can download and subscribe to the podcast here
Installation taken from Alfredo Jaar If it’s about us, it’s about you (2023) at the Goodman Gallery, London
Courtesy of the artist and the gallery
This podcast is sponsored by Bloomberg connectsthe arts and culture app.
The free app offers access to a huge range of international cultural organizations via a single download, with new guides added regularly. They include many museums, galleries and organizations through which Alfredo Jaar has shown his work, such as the Whitechapel Gallery in London and the Public Art Fund. If you download Bloomberg Connects, you’ll find that the Public Art Fund guide contains audio and video of its current exhibitions, including Aida Muluneh and Bharti Kher, information about their current projects, and highlights archives. The archive includes a section on messages to the public, the program for which Alfredo made the work Logo for America.
