Organizing Our World

Ronny Quevedo
Ecuadorian, born 1981, lives and works in New York
los desaparecidos (the arbiter of time)
2018
Waxed pattern paper and gold leaf on muslin
Purchased with generous funds from the Marion G. Hendrie Fund, Ralph L. & Florence R. Burgess Trust, and Alianza de las Artes Americanas in honor of Ruth Tomlingson, 2019.85. © Ronny Quevedo

The act of marking and claiming land has shaped the histories and legacies of the Americas. Huge serpent heads signaled the boundaries of sacred pyramids, and grids ordered the design of colonial cities. For centuries, boundary markers communicated occupancy and ownership in the Americas, delineating what belongs in and what stays out.

Pedro Antonio Gualdi
Italian, 1808–1857, active in Mexico
The Cathedral of Mexico City
1850
Oil paint on canvas
Gift of the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 2013.335

The Spanish would use buildings and monuments to claim ownership and mark territory. They would construct major churches in the center of town, sometimes on top of sites that were sacred to the local population as a means to establish their authority. An example of this can be seen in the painting of the cathedral in Mexico City.

Unknown artist
Toluca Valley region, Central Mexico
Tenoned Serpent Heads
700–1000
Volcanic stone
Museum purchase, 1962.291, 1971.360

Ancient Mesoamerican pyramids mirror the mountainous landscape of the region. The monumental structures evoked mountains, which marked the separation of earth from sky. When placed at the foot of these structures, serpent heads like the ones you see here transform the structure into Coatepec, or snake (coatl) mountain (tepetl), the birthplace of the sun god.

Khipucamayoc [Khipu maker]
Cuzco, Peru
Khipu
Around 1434–1533
Woven llama wool
Gift of Larry and Judi Anderson, 2018.647

The Inka used khipus, a system of knotted cords, as a portable record of the movement of goods and people across their vast empire. Khipus could serve as accounting ledgers as well as devices to remember stories. The Spanish eradicated the use of the khipu and with it, the specialized knowledge needed to understand it.

Artists such as Jorge Eielson and Ronny Quevedo employ the khipu as a symbol of cultural identity and a site of memory. Eielson’s canvas focuses exclusively on the knot, both an homage to the Inka and a reference to the loss of cultural memory. Quevedo weaves a more personal narrative into his work. Khipu cords radiate outward from the center of the work, marking the forty-five minutes of a soccer period in reference to his father, a former professional soccer player and referee.

Sandy Rodriguez
American, born 1975, lives and works in Los Angeles
(top) Three Calavera Copters
2018
Acrylic paint on Plexiglass

(bottom)Mapa de los Child Detention Centers, Family Separation, and other Atrocities from the Codex Rodriguez-Mondragon
2018
Hand processed watercolor on amate (bark paper)
Lent by Sandy Rodriquez. Photos by J6 creative

To draw a line is an act of power. It divides space, both enclosing and excluding what is on either side of it. Today discussions of walls and national boundaries center on what they keep in, whom they shelter, and what they keep out. Rafael Fajardo’s video game, set in a bordertown, forces us to consider both sides of a border experience: how it feels to fight to get in as well as what we do to keep others out. Artist Sandy Rodriguez’s map draws attention to the arbitrariness of borders and the displacement that results as political fortunes change. Sometimes you don’t cross the border; it crosses you.

Daniela Edburg’s photographs, however, remind us of the permeability of these dividing lines and nature’s power to ignore human boundaries. Focusing on the migration of people, animals, and materials, her Uprooted series explores our ability to adapt and thrive in new, foreign landscapes.

Quito School, Ecuador
Noah’s Ark
1700s
Oil paint on canvas
Collection of Carl and Marilynn Thoma. Courtesy of and photo by the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation

The composition of this painting is based on an engraving created by Flemish artist Theodor de Bry in 1609. Here, the Ecuadorian artist replaces many of the creatures of the original engraving with peoples and animals from Andean society such as turkeys, armadillos, and llamas. This strategy contests the imposed colonial order and asserts the artist’s cultural values and knowledge of the land.