Ashley Johnson Essay


The Z’otz* Collective

Ashley Johnson, artist, writer and curator
Toronto, June 2, 2008

The current state of art demands new solutions to the old problem of communication. Despite the eclectic promise of Post Modernism, certain forms of conceptual art still dominate the institutions that hold sway over what is valued in art history. Much of this linear paradigm is rooted in a political conservatism that does not place value on art as a communicator but rather as a commodity. It’s ironic that many of art’s manifestations like Minimalism, originally had socialistic agendas, like getting rid of the pedestal, but over time these ideas have been subsumed into the product.

Conceptualism developed from Minimalism, according to the dominant art historical timeline and shares many traits, like a rejection of the artist’s hand. The purist idea is that absolute truth is somehow lodged in the mind and has no correlation in experienced reality. Therefore only the idea is important and not the art object.

The Z’otz* Collective is a reflection of the continuing need amongst artists to express themselves physically despite this oppressive cloud. For Z’otz* it is mainly through traditional mediums like drawing and collage. Where they depart from traditional art production is when they work simultaneously on drawings, combining their visions.

A recent residency in Serbia has added a three-dimensional element to their work. They have been working in clay, passing the sculpture between them. Thus the thought process becomes very dependent on the hand’s experience, and each addition or alteration is part of ‘growing’ the final expression. The image or object contains an impending story that will be unfolded in due course. Ultimately, one would expect these experiments to reach fruition through time-based media.

In a strange twist, recent neurological investigations reveal that the brain does not function in the linear manner predicted by previous philosophical thought. Instead, a wild assortment of conflicting information impulses compete for registration. The system is likened to a sketching process.

The three artists in Z’otz*, Erik Jerezano, Nahúm Flores and Ilyana Martínez epitomize this procedure. Their composite drawings are bizarre animistic hybrids that combine impulses. Each artist allows sufficient psychological space for the collaborators, which results in a communal release of creative energy. Equally, they stamp their own vision in the whole through personal archetypes.

The final images are intensely layered and one can discern a variety of influences. Although individuality is submerged, it’s possible to identify the creators of recurring motifs, like Jerezano’s crawling insects in Disaster Without Precedence. This image also features the use of photographic montage so the hands and body of the person are realistic, contrasted with naïve renditions of green boots and graphic symbolism of the soul departing the body.

There is an overall concern to convey certain social themes like corporate greed and also environmental degradation. 200 Years of Company is a monolithic stack of large books floating above footprints that look like land. A leg and arm emerge from the sides of the portrait bust at the top of the column. He has stuff or wings coming out of his ears. It’s humorous and serious at the same time.

In Subtle Observations, there is a sense of the wounds afflicting the planet and society. A hyena with a bandaged human head stands over a huge watermelon. The bandages become human hands stretching up to rescue a puppy in the ether of the mind. All of life is interconnected and an affliction in one affects us all.

Plants are constantly displacing the concrete in a battle for balance. They grow out of a linear structure containing water in Tales of a Man who Found Eternity in a Can. The silhouette of a man’s head rises from the structure. His mouth spews forth a dream animal or another world.

These artworks evoke phantasmagoric reality much like the literary phenomenon, Magic Realism, exemplified by author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It’s interesting that all three members of Z’otz* share a Latin American background. In Marquez’ novel, 100 Years of Solitude, the final image is of termites devouring the house.

The emphasis is on the fragility and yet tenacity of existence, as delicate organisms cling to life. The Z’otz* collective primarily uses paper as the support for their works although they have also used other more transitory supports like walls. The use of paper suggests a humble quality, much in keeping with the awe one experiences in the face of reality and our inability to comprehend it. Paper comes from trees and in a sense it is a link with the organisms that keep the planet in oxygen. So too, the Z’otz* Collective is a breath of fresh air in an art zone heavily polluted.