Andrea Canepa
Body versus art
When a body stands in front of a work of art, what happens? How do they relate to one another? How does it feel? These are some of the questions Andrea Canepa asks herself every time she develops her installations. For this reason, on many occasions she invites the audience to take part, changing the usual “please do not touch” to “please touch.” This Peruvian artist is on trend and we tell you why.
Andrea Canepa (Lima, Perú, 1980) introduces herself: “My work reflects on space and its relationship with the body.” Each time she designs a site-specific installation, this artist considers the place that will house the piece just as important as the people who will visit it. What is she seeking? To invite us to inhabit the world in a different way, to be more present in the here and now. Her practice, which establishes a dialogue between art, sociology, history and anthropology, is rooted in the past of her country and her continent. Therefore, Andrea feels at home at ARCO—the contemporary art fair sponsored by Iberia—, which encourages dialogue between cultures, especially with Latin America. “Art is a different form of communication, one that can make you understand distant cultures from your own through non-verbal language,” she defends. Beyond ARCO, Andrea is on trend: her works can currently be seen at the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern-IVAM (Entre lo profundo y lo distante [Between the Deep and the Distant]), Casal Solleric (Capfico) and Tabakalera (Situ-akzioak). However, if one intervention is catching people’s attention it is Fardo, which is currently covering the Palacio de Cristal del Retiro during its renovation works.
Let’s go to the root. Where does your connection to art come from?
The truth is that I always knew I wanted to be an artist. I never questioned it. Since I was little, it was what I wanted to do, so when it was time to study, I chose Fine Arts. My family didn’t encourage it, but I do remember going to exhibitions that left an impact on me as a child. More than a revelation, it was a natural process. I think my artistic side comes from my father’s side because they had an eye for design and aesthetics.
“Artistic residences allow for a prolonged stay, transcending your condition as a tourist and starting to truly understand each place”
You finished your studies in Valencia, Spain, and have done residencies in the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Puerto Rico, Germany, the Netherlands… Have you gained a lot as an artist from these trips?
One of the most wonderful things about being an artist is doing residencies in other countries. I love to travel but, above all, I like to remain in places. Artistic residences allow for a prolonged stay, transcending your condition as a tourist and starting to truly understand each place. As an artist, I let myself be influenced a lot by the space; the place where you are affects your thoughts and these impact your work. Each of those trips has enriched me because I have noticed elements that I have then incorporated into my work.
What has your intervention at the Palacio de Cristal del Retiro, one of the icons of Madrid, meant to you?
It has been wild. I have intervened on a monument in the city—which is beautiful and I love—and, therefore, there is an emotional aspect in the relationship people from Madrid have with it. It is something that surpasses the world of art. The exhibition has reached so many people and I had never experienced so much interaction.
Your site-specific installations are proof that art can burst into any corner and transform everyday spaces into extraordinary experiences. How do you approach them?
Architecture and objects are like sheet music for me, which define the types of movements and interactions that will occur in the space. When they started to call me to make interventions in very odd spaces, I asked myself: How do I approach this? Over time, I understood that it was the best that could happen to me and I like it more and more. If I had to do an exhibition in an impeccable, perfect white cube now, I’d get nervous because I need that architecture, that base on which I can start to create.
During the creative process of your installations, do you think a lot about the audience? Is it important for you to get people involved?
Absolutely. I am always thinking about the relationship between bodies and my pieces. I’m interested in the idea of affordances [the characteristics or properties of an object that suggest how it can be used], a term coined by psychologist James J. Gibson at the end of the 1970s. Before rationalizing the object we are seeing, we perceive how our body can relate to it. For example: an adult sees a chair and knows they can sit on it, but a baby does not interpret it in the same way; they see it as an object to lean on and pull themselves up with. When I make these installations, which are participatory, I think about what movements bodies can make and how to invite them to step outside their everyday lives, out of their routines. When you force a body to face an object in different ways, you are also appealing to their mind.
Site-specific installations stand out for their fleeting nature. How do you feel about creating pieces with an expiry date?
Terrible. It is a shame. I am really interested in the interaction between the audience and the piece, for it to be usable so that you can touch it, sit on it, lean on it… The 1:1 scale between person and object involves dimensions that are difficult to store. I always try to donate or recycle them, find new uses for them, but sometimes we have to destroy them. When you create at these scales, you end up working almost like an architect. Therefore, I have become an expert in drawing blueprints with detailed explanations, with instructions about how each of my pieces needs to be assembled. That is the project file that I save, the rest often disappears.
“For someone to be able to maintain an artistic practice over time is already a win. To achieve that, talent is not so necessary, it is more important to persist”
Lately, you have collaborated with the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the IVAM, Tabakalera, CondeDuque, Casal Solleric… At the risk of sounding frivolous, do you feel like you are all the rage?
No, no. Several things have coincided and it looks like I am everywhere, but it has been a coincidence, a one-off. Now I might be years without a commission… No one will call me because they will be sick of me (laughs). Sometimes opportunities arise and you cannot say no because our work is not stable. So, you say yes to everything and then suffer. You kill yourself working, but you pull it off. This is the life of an artist, the life of a freelancer as well.
In 2014, you won the ARCO Award from the Community of Madrid for Young Artists. What does ARCO mean to you?
ARCO has always given me a lot of visibility. It has even allowed me to present a couple of artist projects. I’m also lucky to work with a gallery, Rosa Santos, who has always represented me. Without ARCO, my career would not have been the same. I am grateful because it is a fair with a lot of influence, both in Spain and Latin America. It makes a strong effort to make Spanish-speaking artists more international. At a personal level, I have a lot of fun at ARCO. It’s really fun.
Our relationship with the world is becoming more and more mediated. As an artist, does that worry you?
Through my work, I always try to return to that materiality, to the experience of the here and now. I invite the audience to be present, to reconnect with what you can touch. I am interested in that analogue world, everything that cannot turn into ones and zeros, all those questions that escape the digital experience and can be perceived through art.
Finally, tell me what your relationship to talent is like.
Talent, understood as an innate ability, does not exist. If it does exist, I don’t have it. Nothing comes naturally to me (laughs). What I have achieved has been through a lot of hard work and persistence. That is what will make my career work and continue… For someone to be able to maintain an artistic practice over time is already a win. To achieve that, talent is not so necessary, it is more important to persevere.
