Madeline Callander - Symposium Abstract

Nadín Ospina:
Disclosing Colombia’s Relationship with the United States through Art

My thesis focuses on the art of Nadín Ospina and especially its connection to issues involving globalization. Nadín Ospina is a Colombian artist who is dedicated to exploring the hybridity of Colombia’s cultural identity and Columbia’s relationship with American popular culture. In the series entitled, POP-Colonialismo or POP-Colonialism, icons such as Disney’s Mickey Mouse and Fox’s Bart Simpson are mummified in Pre-Colombian archeological pieces. Ospina explores the popular culture colonization of artifacts from the pre-Colombian people who traditionally are a symbol of an authentic Latin American experience before colonization. He takes objects from an idealized past and places them in an ever changing high-tech world, where they are redefined by their transactions with these multinational and trans-generational cultural icons. Ospina shows the Americanization of Colombian culture by adding Mickey Mouse ears to pre-Colombian figures, which makes Ospina’s art familiar because we recognize Mickey as a global icon. The Mickey ears are a symbol of Disneyland and represent the prestige of visiting and the comfort that is directly associated with the familiarity.

The theme of cultural hybridity is also explored in his series entitled, Colombia Land, whereby Ospina refers to the game LEGO Adventures, “whose characters are recognizable as belonging to the violent imaginary that characterizes the Latin American region” (Ardila). He is responding directly to the prejudice that derives from the European period of colonization. As perceived by the National Geographic article entitled ‘Cocaine Country’ and stereotypes from companies like LEGO, the ambiguous gaze spotlights the violence and drugs that are produced in Colombia. In the exhibition, Ospina takes the stereotypes the game presents and reinforces them by furthering and enlarging the stereotypical aspects that are communicated by the media and “persist in the collective memory and the imagination of toymakers” (Ardila). The fantasy worlds that Lego creates sell the images on the toys as if they are Colombia’s dominating cultural characteristics.

My thesis examines the works of Nadín Ospina to assert three key arguments. First, I argue that Ospina’s works are representative of the powerful and empowered role of the body as it depicts violence in Colombia. He recombines elements from culturally incongruous bodies, which refer to the brutal practices of mutilation that have occurred in connection to political or drug related violence. Ospina conceals this violence within the bodies of his figures, which re-present the fusion of cultural icons and historical pre-Colombian artifacts. Second, I argue that Ospina’s works are a critique of the American middle class consumer-based lifestyle and the complicated relationship that the ‘American Dream’ lifestyle imposes on Colombia. He is critiquing Colombia for becoming increasingly Americanized as well as using global visual commodities, such as The Simpsons to reflect satirically on the negative American influence. With this analysis, I also interpret the manner in which the artist addresses the relationship between North America and Colombia including the influence of American popular culture, drug sales to the U.S., and their political relationship as each plays a role in the violence that exists in Colombia. Third, I argue that Ospina uses his works to position Colombia on a global stage in a positive light by defining Colombia’s identity as a hybrid fusion of many cultural identities.  I explore the themes of nationality and historical identity, and compare Colombia’s aspirant identity to the actual identity of Colombians.

Ospina is a trans-national, trans-generational artist who inverts and subverts the gaze of relationships that exist in our society. Ospina is creating art that represents the hybrid identity of Colombia and analyzing all aspects that form that identity. There is violence in the combination, but the mestizaje or mixed outcome is a beautiful end result.