Jimena Mendoza
Monolith 2
2016
Collage
Paper collage
29,5 x 20 cm
Purchased in 2016
On view in The M Lounge.
Jimena Mendoza
Monolith 14
2016
Collage
Paper collage
42 x 30 cm
Purchased in 2016
On view in the stair hallway.
These collages from Jimena Mendoza (b. 1979) belong to a series called Monolith. They are connected with a personal, iconographic project, which she worked on during her first stay in Prague as a post-graduate student of Arts. Mendoza is interested in modernism, the utopias that can be traced back to the beginning of the last century, and the dystopias that come along with them. Her work travels between her cultural background and understanding (Mexican, postcolonial, pre-Columbian) and her research and encounters today. These influences condense into autonomous art pieces. The collages try to appear as a vestige or relic from the recent past, appealing to the ancient monoliths that represent strong cultural heritage as well as the idea of uniqueness. Monoliths are familiar to European as well as American societies and are reminders of the human transformation of nature into culture. They are the material proof of a human act. These unknown forms are like codes to decipher or secrets pent up in the past. Mendoza shows the importance of mystery and the importance of unawareness especially today in our hyper-informed society.
