Artist Performance

To mark the close of his exhibition Talking Shit at James Cohan, Eamon Ore-Giron will present Talking Shit with EKEKO, a collaborative performance with avant-garde Peruvian sound artist Alan Poma. Ekeko is the Andean god of prosperity and abundance, and small figurines of the god depict him as a jovial man with a mustache and an open mouth where a cigarette is often placed. He is dressed in traditional Andean clothing, including a poncho loaded with miniature offerings that may range from money and food to replicas of cars, musical instruments, and household goods—anything that someone might wish for.

During the performance, Poma will be transformed into a version of Ekeko, donning the loom-woven wearable tapestry Talking Shit With Quetzalcoatl / I Like Mexico and Mexico Likes Me, 2017, created by Ore-Giron and the Guadalajara-based workshop Taller Mexicano de Gobelinos. Poma will produce a soundscape suggestive of the sounds of the Rio Mantaro, a river in Peru that has important significance in Ore-Giron’s family history, as Ore-Giron pins different objects to the tapestry, his own offerings and thanks to the god. Talking Shit with EKEKO will foreground concepts of ancestral memory, place, and proximity of the past.

Alan Poma has adapted the Russian Cubo-Futurist opera Victory over the Sun and published the Andean Futurist Manifesto in 2019. He developed the concept of Andean Futurism, which offers a non-linear interpretation of Andean culture. He has participated in performances, exhibitions, and concerts, proposing an interpretation that encourages a dialogue between the Western avant-garde tradition and the Andean cultural heritage. Alan is currently visiting faculty at California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles.

This program is free and open to the public. No advanced registration is required.