ABOUT CROSSROADS
Artist: Martin Llamedo
Land of Origin: Argentina
This painting plays in the same universe than Banquet. The protagonist in this case is not an automation but an active individual, challenging and critical of the present.
While Martin LLamedo was painting Crossroads, he became very ill and no one knew why. Doctors ordered tests and tried to analyze the cause of his illness, but failed to identify the problem. From the onset of the Corona experience, he began to feel as though he was the subject of an experiment.
The artist’s conceptualization of this painting suggests illusory realism, a warning as it were, in the form of a cross. This visual talisman is loud and imposing and brings about a razor sharp emergency light about health and the real world. Here, Martin holds our faces up to the games and politics that exist inside of a fragile healthcare system, in order to make us fully conscious about what is happening. He’s held prisoner by thoughts about broken systems, health for ransom, an absence of empathy, and the need for a more clear sense of consciousness about what is occurring in our midst.
The dress is made of surgical gauze. The foam represents the uncertainty of death versus life, harrowing infection and a vision of soap to wash it all away. Her hair is decomposing, dark geometry, representing deconstruction of a pulmonary alveoli. Her passport-like portrait explains the awareness of the intimidating reality that we must face and fight in solidarity to make the world a better place.