Carros (2004)
25 C-print. Ed. 1/15 42 x 57 cm
Courtesy: Galería La Caja Negra, Madrid
The artist began this series back in 1996 in Mexico City. Carros [Cars] speaks of the passing of years, of life, of death, of a country and its borders, of people and their dreams. This series is not just about portraying vehicles. Through them I also portray people and a geographical territory. Each particular vehicle reflects the life of a individual and the habitat he or she inhabits. Somehow each vehicle maintains the aura of the person who used and inhabited it.An anthropological study of Mexican people who moved to the United States in search of El Dorado and came back driving their own cars can be observed in this series. The vehicle somehow becomes yet another member of the family, and an expression of the whole country.Carros is also a metaphor of freedom, of the pursuit of a dream, of a journey, maybe the last one. The vehicle is a direct accomplice in this pursuit of freedom. With their legendary style, these cars are the last settlers of the streets and roads of a globalized world lacking in personality.They are a reminder of an entire life. Some still have the patina of desert dust, others are coated in the smog of Mexico City, however, all of them possess the signs of the passing of years of the people who inhabited these cars and projected their hopes, wishes and sorrows into them.
- Félix Curto
