Gabriel Kuri, a Mexican artist, employs his sculptures and installations to provide a critical examination of the commercial world. He achieves this by merging location-specific elements with the ordinary aspects of mass-produced consumer goods and financial records. This approach leads to an exploration of both formal and conceptual matters.
His extensive works, spanning textiles, industrial materials, and elements from nature, delve into the connection between the consumer and the citizen. Often, he reshapes the financial, public, and private aspects of culture by recontextualizing the intended purposes of his materials.
In his pursuit of creating art, he reached out to collaborate with us. His artwork was intended to be part of an exhibition titled, ‘Someone is Getting Rich’, which was to be displayed at the Troppenmuseum in Amsterdam, alongside other artists including Eline Benjaminsen, Alain Bernardini, French Bragigand, Claire Fontaine, DIS, Zachary Formwalt, Femke Herregraven, Jean Kawata, and Ced’ar Tamasala (CATPC), Hew Locke, Cristina Lucas, Pope.L, Pascale Monnin, Pyotr Pavlensky, and Santiago Sierra.
Curated by Carrie Pilto, this thought-provoking exhibition delves into the relationship between the intricate web of colonialism and the multifaceted themes orbiting subjects of money and the global financial system. It highlights the role of Dutch financial innovations, as well as the people–bankers, investors, and savers–who played a crucial role in financing colonial campaigns and slavery plantations. In ‘Someone is Getting Rich’, contemporary artists shed light on how colonial inventions like tradable shares and investment funds have shaped the global financial system. More importantly, they reveal how the legacies of colonialism continue to influence the financial sector today.
As Ethnicloom it was a pleasure for us to work alongside Kuri to create his replica of a receipt from Chase Bank using naturally dyed yarn and handwoven pattern makers. We look forward to working with him again in the future.
The Ara Güler Museum Shop, located in Galataport’s Doğuş Square, was awarded the highest level of the “Red Dot: Best of the Best Interior Design” award, which is one of the most prestigious design awards in the world, as part of Wangan Studio’s “Ara Güler Museum Shop + Leica Showroom + Monochrome Brasserie” project. This project became the first interior design project in Turkey to receive this award. You can visit our Museum Shop, part of the AGLM project, which is one of the most significant attractions in Galataport, from Tuesday to Sunday, between 10:00 AM and 7:00 PM.