Carlos Rojas at Americas Society
Yo, Midas (1989-1990) by artist Carlos Rojas is part of the second version of El Dorado: Myths of Gold, a two-part group exhibition exploring the legend of El Dorado as a foundational myth of the Americas. The exhibition presents artworks by more than sixty artists, from the pre-Hispanic period to the contemporary era, that challenge, reinforce, and question the continuity and effects of the myth in the Americas into the present.
El Dorado is a tale of searches and quests, delirium, and violence. During the colonization of the Americas, rumors of an Indigenous kingdom replete with gold and precious stones quickly permeated the European imagination, galvanizing the invasion of the continent without regard for Indigenous lives, ancestral territories, or environmental concerns. Despite never being found, the mythical El Dorado functioned as a foundational ethos for the colonization of the Americas that persists until today. The city of gold has transformed into more intangible, though equally powerful, personal and collective values—such as individualism, greed, and consumerism—that are central to contemporary capitalist societies.
As we grapple with the enormous long-term sociopolitical and environmental effects of this operating dynamic, there is a pressing need to reevaluate its influence on our identification as human beings and members of a globalized society. Presenting artworks from the precolonial period to today, this exhibition complicates and reevaluates the idea of El Dorado, employing the myth as a framework for understanding the Americas. By placing historical and contemporary artworks together, the exhibition facilitates dialogues between past and present to investigate how the myth has shaped the value of gold, as well as that of territories, peoples, religious beliefs, and nature.
(Text extract from the Americas Society's website)
On view from September 6, 2023 to May 18, 2024.
