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What do monuments want, do, and stand for in our memories and public spaces? Levitate, a new film by Colombian artist Iván Argote, questions the histories, functions and possible futures of colonial icons that still today define the identity of modern European cities. In what the artist calls three anticipatory actions, organized as grand-scale performances in the centers of Rome, Madrid, and Paris, we are confronted with three emblems of control and domination that still exert, undisturbed, their symbolic power from atop their pedestals. The Flaminian obelisk in the Piazza del Popolo, which came to Rome at the behest of Emperor Agustus in 10 B.C.; the statue of Christopher Columbus erected to commemorate the day of the "discovery" of the Americas; and the statue of French military officer and colonial administrator Joseph Gallieni, are suspended, displaced from their position as vertical markers of power and tools for propaganda. Their disruption, albeit ephemeral, immediately opens up a space of public discussion.

Iván Argote is a Colombian artist and film director based in Paris. Through his sculptures, installations, films and interventions, he questions our Relation with others, with power structures and belief systems. He develops strategies based on tenderness, affect and humor through which he generates critical approaches to dominant historical narratives. In his interventions on monuments, large-scale ephemeral and permanent public artworks, Iván Argote proposes new symbolic and political uses of public space. Iván Argote studied graphic design, photography and new media at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá and holds an mfa from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-art (Ensba) in Paris. His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Albarrán Bourdais Gallery (Madrid, 2022), Dortmunder Kunstverein (Dortmund, 2021), Perrotin Gallery (New York, 2021 & Paris, 2018), Artpace (San Antonio, TX, 2021), Asu Museum (Phoenix, 2019), Malba (Buenos Aires, 2018), Museo Universitario Del Chopo (Mexico City, 2017), Galeria Vermelho (Sao Paulo, 2017), Palais De Tokyo (Paris, 2013) And Ca2m (Madrid, 2012). Works by the artist are included in the permanent collections of numerous prestigious institutions worldwide, including the Guggenheim Museum (New York, Us); Centre Pompidou (Paris, France); Asu Art Museum (Phoenix, Us); Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (Miami, Us); Colección De Arte Del Banco De La República (Bogotá, Colombia); Kadist (San Francisco, Us); Macba (Barcelona, Spain).