12x12: Harold Mendez

Packing, strapping, and duct tape is used to symbolize contested borders, barren landscapes, and the politics that often segregate spaces. Mexican artist Harold Mendez focuses on concepts of both physical and psychological constraint through a floor- to-ceiling wall installation that changes from a solid iridescent glow to the patterns of fencing as the viewer gets closer.

A haunting four-channel sound work presents a manipulated recording of crows cawing and the resonant frequencies of the landscape in the Utah desert. Conflicting notions of openness, confinement, power, and property are explored. The installation seeks to engulf the viewer in a reflection on the landscape of the past and present political narratives.

Harold Mendez received his education in Chicago and Ghana, West Africa. An artist led gallery talk provides insight on the exhibit on Tuesday, November 18, at 6:30 pm. The exhibit is co-presented by the 2008 Artist Residency Program at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

UBS 12 x 12: New Artists/New Work:
Harold Mendez