Mirage (Trans)
2023
Medium
LED, Cherry wood (Prunus sp.), mirror, one-way mirror, electrical components
Measurements
165.2 × 91.4 × 16.9 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased NGV Foundation, 2024
© Iván Navarro
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Iván Navarro’s work encapsulates far more than visual manipulation. It critiques social and cultural environments shaped by political governance. The work resembles a portal to travel through – but from where to where? How do we enter? And once in ‘the system’ could we ever get out? – Mirage trans draws on the artist’s memory of his home country of Chile, where electricity was used as an instrument of torture and frequent power cuts isolated and terrorised citizens. The tunnel of small light bulbs is a social commentary on the oppressive tactics employed by Augusto Pinochet’s authoritarian regime (1973–90). This work reflects upon and questions the dynamics of power, control and capitalism that shape existence.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
United States
Edition
ed. 1/3
Inscription
inscribed in fibre-tipped pen on reverse c.r.: MIRAGE TRANS / IVAN NAVARRO / 2023
Accession Number
2024.122
Department
Contemporary Art