Tailbone | Irving Ramó
Curated by Abie Franklin

September 12th until September 17th, 2023
Monopol. Provinzstraße 44, 13409 Berlin

In his premiere solo show in Germany, Irving Ramó investigates the colonial entanglements that have influenced his artistic practice and personal life for the first time. As a symbol for this, he utilizes and undermines the long-standing tradition of the equestrian portrait. In his works, we encounter chrome-coated bodies, a scramble of limbs, the expansion of one entity into another. 

In Tailbone, Ramó invites us to think about our humanity and how we connect to our surroundings. He takes inspiration from the relationship between the horse and the rider as a physical interface. This connection stands for something already beyond the human but not a something else entirely yet. Whereas the dominant narrative highlights what makes us human in additive terms: the pre-frontal cortex, opposable thumbs, and the glutinous maximus, Ramó offers a different perspective and asks: “What has humanity had to give up to become human”?

Abie Franklin