Arturo Kameya. Los Ovnis.

About

Los Ovnis translates to The UFOs, a reference to communal feelings of alienation and otherness explored in Kameya’s newest body of work. The exhibition title also refers to the dramatic increase in UFO sightings since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, a nod to how perceptions during tumultuous times can affect representations of memory and truth, a prevalent and recurrent theme in the artist’s work. Kameya captures Peru’s sociopolitical complexity through an image mining of parallel cultures and events from his adolescence in the 1990s through today. In his new paintings, images with various thematic frameworks are interwoven to create constellations that question the plasticity of history and underscore the instability of the future.

Depictions of internet cabins occupied by adolescent gamers, seemingly devoid of meaningful aspirations, converse with scenes of onlookers near a sizzling Pyro Tower in a landscape with numeric markings, a reference to land trafficking. The quick and subtle uprisings of these subcultures and their temporal fragility, how easily they can be forgotten, signify broader existential concerns. For Kameya, memories of the past and inquiries into contemporary culture can offer a roadmap to an uneasy future.

The exhibition culminates on the lower-level gallery with a fountain installation containing a consistent beer flow, which was first presented in the 2022 Busan Biennale We, on the Rising Wave. The installation melds imagery related to Peru’s football culture, and its inherent beer swilling, with Catholic iconography, to create a cross-section of religious and popular culture. Meaningful characterizations of the artist’s home country are best found in the common and sometimes mundane natures of its overlooked communities.