Yearning the sun to fall by Augustine Paredes

YEARNING THE SUN TO FALL

Curated by Anna Bernice delos Reyes

December 3 to 17, 2023

fffriedrich, Alte Mainzer Gasse 4-6

Frankfurt am Main 

In Greek mythology, Icarus lives imprisoned in a labyrinth with his father, and both attempt to flee on makeshift wings. To survive their flight, Icarus is instructed by his father to glide just between the sea and the sun, lest he drowns or his wings get burnt. Icarus disobeys his father, ultimately flying too close to the sun, burning his wings and drowning.
Much like Icarus, the migrant body is always in a state of departure, constantly caught in a state of rebellion and defiance. For his first solo show in Germany, Augustine Paredes embodies Icarus’ story as a way to understand the plight of the brown migrant body. He ruminates on the remorse of departure, and the apologies we feel compelled to make to the loved ones we unwillingly leave behind. A migrant’s choice to leave is both a selfless and selfish act, motivated by the potential of providing a better life elsewhere.

Augustine’s new body of work — which includes paintings, manipulations of printed photographs and objects, video, and stills — incarnates the visual language and imageries of Icarus’ myth, exploring its materiality and textures. Augustine discovers resonances between Icarus’ story, his own narrative of constant departure, the collective solastalgia of migrants — to understand the sorrow and longing of leaving.

Yearning the Sun to Fall questions what it means to depart, to escape, to betray, to leave (someone) behind, to shapeshift, to fall, to drown, to bear the weight of guilt — in pursuit of a speculatively hopeful future.

Yearning the sun to fall by Augustine Paredes
Yearning the sun to fall by Augustine Paredes
Yearning the sun to fall by Augustine Paredes
Yearning the sun to fall by Augustine Paredes
Yearning the sun to fall by Augustine Paredes
Yearning the sun to fall by Augustine Paredes
Yearning the sun to fall by Augustine Paredes
Yearning the sun to fall by Augustine Paredes
Yearning the sun to fall by Augustine Paredes
Yearning the sun to fall by Augustine Paredes
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