"Spanish Lessons"
Gabriel Orozco
The 200th episode of Exclusive provides viewers with an intimate look at Spanish Lessons (2013), a project by Gabriel Orozco that took place at Marian Goodman Gallery in New York. Unsatisfied with the relegation of Spanish to “street talk” in the United States, Orozco used art and literature to teach the language to gallery goers.
“It’s very common to hear people quoting Borges, but not many people have really read Borges in Spanish,” he says. “Meaning changes when you translate.”
Orozco’s temporary classroom was situated in an unused office below the commercial gallery, creating an opportunity to exchange ideas and knowledge in a space usually used for the exchange of money and objects.
Featured artists
About the artists
Gabriel Orozco uses the urban landscape and the everyday objects found within it to twist conventional notions of reality and engage the imagination of the viewer. Orozco’s interest in complex geometry and mapping find expression in works like the patterned human skull of Black Kites, and the curvilinear logic of Oval Billiard Table. He considers philosophical problems, such as the concept of infinity, and evokes them in humble moments. Matching his passion for political engagement with the poetry of chance encounters, Orozco’s photographs, sculptures, and installations propose a distinctive model for the ways in which artists can affect the world with their work.
