For Yoshua Okón: 2007-2010, we present five projects that are collaborative efforts between the artist and members of unique communities in Mexico, California and Germany. These works feature improvisational narratives that provoke viewers to consider questions of societal conduct within the context of the authoritative nation-state and personal behavior within those systems of social restraint. Maintaining a belief that humanity holds within its grasp a complex web of fears and desires, psychological violence shares the stage with absurdity and humor. When thinking about these works for YBCA's Big Idea ENCOUNTER: Engaging the social context, we especially consider how Okón places pressure on viewers to interrogate their own attitudes towards power, ethics, and prejudice in regard to class, status, and marginality.
Yoshua Okón: 2007-2010 was presented at the YBCA from October 30, 2010 to February 6, 2011.
