(Santiago de Chile, 1972)
Visual artist born in Santiago de Chile, currently lives and works in Concón. His work has always focused on the investigation of the image and its use as a means to represent the social and political context that surrounds him. Ever since his first works addressed the re/construction of a personal genealogical map through photography and digital media, von Gehr’s gaze has been opening up -as in his well-known ‘pictorial explosions’- to the social environment. The artist draws inspiration for his work from contemporary Chilean history as well as from the political upheavals of recent years, where the media have also played a decisive role not only in information but also in confusion.
His latest project, AMERICA, reflects the world in which we live, where he documents power relations and citizenship and reflects on the speed at which events take place and the way in which our minds grasp -almost uninterruptedly- the wealth of information received. As the artist himself expresses, his works “is the result of observation of a current landscape, where they cross quotations to the paintings, television information of international and national political aspects, images of fierce animals together with butterflies or rabbits: a zapping both social and televisión, how the media give us the information”.
In his contribution to Confinement ARCHIVE he shows us video images of his work in the studio during the days of lockdown, where the sensation of movement instability can be associated with the visual agitation that his latest works express. The images are combined with reflections by philosopher Ricardo Espinoza Lolas on von Gehr’s current work in this pandemic era, and on the critical view they both share of capitalism.