Jugando con la historia
Adolfo Patiño
Playing with History
During the 1990s, Patiño (also known as “Adolfotógrafo,” or Adolphotographer) critically inscribed everyday elements with military or religious imagery: references associated with the bilateral tensions between Mexico and the United States during the North American Free Trade Agreement era, as well as with liberating forms of cultural migrations, which he described as “transfusions.”
This ensemble, like much of his work, adheres to a Duchampian logic of appropriation, which led the artist to create work based on acquiring, juxtaposing, and exhibiting objects and images of popular consumption. The 435 plastic soldiers that make up this piece are arranged in a grid formation on a white wooden base, forming the American flag in a show of pop-style anti-imperialist critique.
ADOLFO PATIÑO (1954–2005)
Jugando con la historia, 1990
Playing with History
Installation. 435 plastic figures on wooden base
Gift of the artist, 2002
