D54 Hugo Llanes: Bonita

In this exhibition Llanes examines the intricate and often contradictory experience of cultural adaptation as an immigrant. Engaging with foundational elements of both Icelandic and Mexican/Latino culture: language, food, art history, and music, he investigates how cultural exchanges take shape, which parallels are in place and what it means to belong.

In Gallery D his work draws on the structures and peculiarities of language, errors in translation, lived experience, and the symbolic markers encountered throughout his journey. For Llanes, thoughts and words exist in a constant state of translation: errors, gaps, and misunderstandings naturally arise as his cultural identity is slowly transforming. From this liminal space he created Bonita, an alter ego who inhabits the in between of cultural identities, where interpretation and meaning remain perpetually in flux. Words shift as they move from one language to another; their emotional resonance alters or fades. In much the same way, the self is reshaped through the movement between countries looking for a new home, whether voluntary or driven by necessity. Bonita attempts to hold on to traces of her former identity while simultaneously adapting to a new social landscape.

The exhibition is made up of multiple different art mediums, supported by a structure of steel pipes traditionally used for scaffolding. A metaphor for a state under construction and of transformation. Punk aesthetics, vulnerability, and humour infuse the exhibition, serving as tools through which the artist communicates both collective and deeply personal aspects of the immigrant experience in Iceland.

Originally from Mexico, Llanes now lives and works in Reykjavík. He holds an MFA in Fine Arts from the Iceland University of the Arts and a BA in Visual Arts from Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico. He has been an active participant in initiatives that advocate for the inclusion of minority communities, including Komd’inn, Artists in Iceland Action Visa Group, and Get Together (GETA).