RESIDENTE PULIDO

Alexander Apóstol is part of a younger generation that does not shun self-critique of the Latin American identity and prevailing cliches. For instance, in the photo series PASATIEMPOS (Pastime, 1998) he exposes the archetypical ‘Latin macho’ image, as that is dictated by men’s magazines. Apóstol’s latest project, RESIDENTE PULIDO (Polished Flats, 2002) is a follow-up on this theme. The rationalistic/modernist architecture dates from the 1950s, when the economies of Venezuela and other Latin American countries grew explosively, fueled by oil production. With digital techniques Apóstol has retouched out all the entrances, and covered their outside walls with glass or porcelain. His intervention turns the fifty-year-old flats into impenetrable monuments. The massive monoliths not only remind one of better, now bygone times; for Apóstol the buildings, with their closed but fragile exterior are also a metaphor for the arrogant, masculine male.