Los Angeles–based visual artist Hector Mata took an artistic approach to a subject close to his heart in the photo-based project he calls Limbo. Mata conceived of Limbo as an exhibition in which the physical boundary line between the U.S. and Mexico is a touchstone. For Mata, the border is a metaphor for the unique intermediate state of identity inhabited by immigrants. As an immigrant from Peru, he understands the complex issue firsthand, “I have always lived in a sort of limbo, myself. Two parallel worlds exist: one defined by the country in which I live, the other residing in my dreams and heart,” he writes.
Mata captured images of the borderline on a drive along the length of the border from San Ysidro, California, to Boca Chica, Texas, in 2007. Alongside near-abstract black-and-white photographs, he presents diptychs that pair lyrical black-and-white scenes near the border with color images of personal objects abandoned by would-be immigrants as they crossed the border. These forlorn objects—shoes, snapshots, and handwritten letters—serve as haunting reminders that immigration is not merely a political hot button, but an often-perilous and demoralizing journey made by real people.
June 11-July 3, 2009 Reception June 11, 6-10pm
LACDA
107 W. 5th St
Los Angeles CA 90013
LINKS
Aperture
HectorMata.com
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