Javier Telléz: Praise of Folly

SMAK Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent, Belgium

As the son of two psychiatrists, Venezuelan artist Javier Téllez grew up in an environment where the mentally ill were part of everyday life. His film projects involve close collaborative ventures with what are usually 'invisible' communities, such as psychiatric patients or people with disabilities, allowing them to participate in the work process in order to produce a dignified and non-stereotyped image of those who are stigmatized. Combining documentary and fictional elements, Téllez works together with these people to provide a fresh interpretation of classical myths, private and collective memories and historical references. His work lends a voice to those who are marginalized, outsiders and the disenfranchised, in order to challenge the concept of what is normal and what is pathological in our society.

 

The exhibition includes La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (Rozelle Hospital, Sydney) (2004), Oedipus Marshal (2006), Caligari and the Sleepwalker (2008), Dürer's Rhinoceros (2010), The Conquest of Mexico (2012), Letter on the Blind, for the Use of Those Who See (2007) and The Greatest Show on Earth (One Flew over the Void) (2005).

 

Curator: Thomas Caron