About the artwork
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Barricade No. 4 and Barricade No. 7, 2017
Dimensions(h x w x d): 55" x 45", 55" x 45"
Archival pigment prints
Located in Fariborz Maseeh Hall,
first floor northeast vestibule area
The rugged materials used in the Barricade photos suggest the construction jobs that immigrants often fill, as well as the barricades that dissident groups build to shield themselves from hostile forces. After constructing the assemblages, artist Rodrigo Valenzuela photographs them and enlarges the image into a mural backdrop for a second installation, repositioning the same materials again. He then re-photographs the resulting scene to produce a final monochromatic image, one that depicts an uncannily mirrored space, where the overlapping views of photograph and installation meld together. Valenzuela states: “I engage the viewer in questions concerning the ways in which the formation and experience of each work is situated—how they exist in and out of place.”
About the artist
Rodrigo Valenzuela (b. 1982 in Santiago, Chile) completed an art history degree at the University of Chile in 2004, then worked in construction while making art over his first decade in the United States, completing an MFA at University of Washington in 2012. Valenzuela’s work in photography, video and installation is rooted in contradictory traditions of documentary and fiction, often involving narratives around immigration and the working class. In addition to presentations at Upfor Gallery in Portland, notable solo exhibitions include Portland Art Museum; Klowden Mann, Los Angeles; Laurence Miller Gallery, New York; Lisa Kandlhofer, Vienna; Frye Art Museum, Seattle; and Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Santiago.
See more of Rodrigo Valenzuela's work on his website.
These works were acquired through Oregon's Percent for Art in Public Places Program, managed by the Oregon Arts Commission.
Banner image courtesy of the artist and Upfor Gallery.