Art News

Yoshua Okón Debuts New Video Installation at The Hammer Museum

artwork: Yoshua Okón - "Still from Octopus", 2011. Multi-channel video installation, color, sound. - Image courtesy of the artist, and The Hammer Museum.


LOS ANGELES, CA.- Mexican artist Yoshua Okón’s videos blur the lines between documentary, reality, and fiction. He collaborates closely with his actors (often amateurs who are also the subjects of the work) to create sociological examinations that ask viewers to contemplate uncomfortable situations and circumstances. He works with marginalized groups such as pit-bull owners, Nazi-war memorabilia collectors, and Venice Beach homeless people, in order to reflect back onto mainstream culture. For this show, Okón debuts a new two-channel video installation which was produced during his residency at the Hammer Museum. The work, shot on location at a Los Angeles Home Depot store, explores the relationships amongst Guatemalan day laborers who at home fought on opposite sides, yet here in the U.S. are working together in their efforts to find work.