Opening on May 1 at Elizabeth Collective in New York, "The Beginning of the End" is the U.S. premiere of Errazuriz's latest sculptural works.
Curated by James Salomon, the exhibition includes a series of 3D-modeled and printed sculptures of Silicon Valley's tech leaders as Greco-Roman statues. It features Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos and Edward Snowden, all depicted as mythological gods.
In Errazuriz's pantheon of tech moguls, Bezos is immortalized in a Napoleonic pose, reflecting on the growing power of corporations like Amazon. Described by the Chilean-born artist as a "prophet," Steve Jobs is seen leaning over his smartphone as a modern-day interpretation of Rodin's "The Thinker."
"The Beginning of the End" is the outcome of five years of work by Errazuriz, who first had to collect images of the tech personalities he wanted to depict. He then had to construct 3D models to make the final AR sculptures, which were also 3D-printed in resin.
"We've had to sculpt in the same manner as you would be sculpting in real life, but using the cursor of the computer and the mouse to push in and out wireframes", he told Wired magazine.
This isn't the first time that Errazuriz has explored the relationship between art and technology. In 2017, he notoriously "vandalized" an AR version of Jeff Koons' iconic "Balloon Dog" sculpture using Snapchat. Errazuriz created his own version, covering it with virtual graffiti.
"The Beginning of the End" will be on view at the Elizabeth Collective in New York, from May 1 to 14.
