The idea of Liquid Portraits on the whole is based on Qatar’s progress in such a
short time. All that Christto&Andrew do is capture moments and objects in a certain
air and mix them together. But how they do it is unique, writes Umer Nangiana
A good piece of art is one that instantly provokes a train of thought in the viewer’s mind while simultaneously generating an appreciative impulse.
This is exactly what the artwork of the duo Christto Sanz, a Puerto Rican, and Andrew Weir, a South African, commonly known as Christto&Andrew, is all about.
What makes them special is the fact that they are two creative minds producing a unified idea. Thus, what comes out is compelling, to say the least.
All they do is capture moments and objects in a certain air and mix them together. But how they do it is unique.
Have a look at “Things Between Us”, one of their many pieces of arts on display at their first solo exhibition ‘Liquid Portraits’ at Katara Art Centre (KAC), for instance, and you would be forced to acknowledge their exclusivity. And it is not the only breathtaking artwork; there are many more wonders as part of the exhibition.
Curated by KAC’s Assistant Curator Misha Michael — her first as well — the exhibition opened on Sunday at building 5 in Katara Cultural Village and will remain open for public till November 23.
“The idea of Liquid Portraits on the whole is based on Qatar’s progress in such a short time. They have had this radical transformation and we wanted to express all the ideas that are connected to these changes,” Andrew tells Community while talking about their exhibition and inspiration as artists.
“I think culture and technology have this sort of weird relationship. If you choose one, you have to let go of the other. The interplay of technology and culture is very interesting and I think that is where all (the ideas) come from,” he says.
“We start our ideas from conversations and a lot of discussion follows it. Sometimes, I come up with an idea and he comes with his own side to it. Then, we visualise and conceptualise these ideas after intense discussions and construct the images,” Christto says to explain how the process of creation evolves.
“But I think what is important is to create an artwork that has a strong message, that tries to change something and makes the audience think,” emphasises the artist.
What happens if they do not agree on a certain idea?
“We usually fight until someone wins,” laughs Andrew. If one wins, the other just allows it.
“For instance, this image of a man with a mask on his face in the picture, he (Andrew) did not like it much and feared it might not work. I told him to wait until he had seen the end result. Finally, a lot of people liked it and it went on to become the cover of the magazine. So sometimes one cannot see what the other imagines,” Christto explains.
He would like to see people’s reaction to one of their pieces in particular. It is a photograph of rotten fruit in a basket. It talks about transition, they say. “Because it is kind of gross as it is rotten but it is also beautiful because of the colours. I am really interested to see how people react to it,” says Christto.
Andrew’s favourite work, however, is a piece called ‘Advent of Absolute knowledge.’ Why? “It contests our concept of history and how we understand history,” he says.
It was Doha where the artist duo had taken the decision to take up art as a career and finally collaborated to become Christto&Andrew. Doha has immense influence on their work, they say.
“Doha basically has been a foundation for all the work that we have been doing together. I mean Puerto Rica and South Africa are completely opposite roads yet we have very interesting discussions and the ideas where we see eye to eye,” says Andrew.
Chrissto believes the fast developing city has served as a launching pad for them.
“I think Doha has really served as a platform for our ideas and our work here is very important to us. Qatar has given us the opportunity to create something that has never been talked about before and it is very new. We are trying to create this artwork in contemporary language for Doha,” he adds.
They are diversifying their medium, however, both of them believe photography will remain a more relevant and interesting medium because of the very fact that the “technology and the digital space around us and how much we interact with it” has become relevant more than ever.
Christto, however, discloses that they have been working on sculptures as well and are not limited to just one medium. “We are exploring different mediums depending on what we want to express. Tomorrow, it could be painting,” says the artist.
Their proudest moment in life, they say, was when they got selected by Foam magazine, an internationally distributed Amsterdam-based photography magazine, as ‘Foam Talent for 2014’. It gave them a strong boost and international attention, says Andrew.
One of their artworks features on the cover of the magazine. Christto&Andrew are as excited about the ‘Liquid Portraits’ as is the curator Misha Michael.
She says talks about the duo’s solo exhibition were on for a long time — perhaps, March this year — and since then she has been working with the artists on its final shape. From visiting their studio to engaging them in discussions over their thought-processes and research, Misha says, she kept the artists completely involved in the process of curating.
“In terms of what to or not to include, the decisions included both their opinions and mine. At the end of the day, I want the exhibition to equally reflect the artists’ concepts and what it is that they envision in terms of how the artwork is presented for interpretation,” says Misha.
About the process of curating and her personal favourite ideas from the artist duo, Misha says, she gravitated more towards the piece called ‘Things Between Us.’
“It shows an Arab with the desert behind him. The scene looks as if he is being attacked by falcons in menacing Hitchcock-style despite his comical expression. How I interpret this artwork is through the tension one might feel when confronted with questions about identity, especially if the person is not a native of the country they are currently living in, like where is home or what is your ethnicity,” she explains.
Misha says both the artists and herself are people who have not grown up in one place. The question of home, she believes, is something very complex. For her, the idea of the understanding of home is “fractured” as she has grown up in seven different countries throughout her life.
“What they (artists) have conveyed is quite poignant through composition and construction because it reflects the way global lives are today and their transient nature. Additionally, the concept of reality only becomes a trauma when you understand your perception of how something should be, was not in fact what you thought it was,” says Misha.
She says she enjoyed every exhibition that she has worked on before, but this one was closer to her heart. “It is the one piece I really have an affinity with because Christto&Andrew’s artwork is distinctive not only in terms of the contemporary art in Doha but also what can be found internationally,” says the curator of Liquid Portraits.
She herself comes from an art background. However, lately she has been interested more in collecting, particularly banal objects. She finds them fascinating. Misha believes the objects do not necessarily have to be something antique but they should have nostalgic value that is not quantifiable.
