The Alchemical Possibilities of an Artist-Poet Collaboration
Four decades later, El Museo del Barrio restages Papo Colo's text-and-image show "Octopus and Others."
In 1982, Puerto Rican artist Papo Colo installed a unique book-shaped sculpture in the courtyard of El Museo del Barrio in Harlem. This installation, commissioned as part of David Hammons's Art in the Park program, was a collaborative effort between nearly 40 New York artists and poets.
The sculpture unfolded across a series of 8-by-4-foot plywood panels, creating an expansive visual and textual experience. Four decades later, seven of these panels continue to captivate audiences as part of the exhibition Octopus and Others.
This exhibition delves into the blurred lines between text and image, a theme prevalent in the experimental art scenes of the '80s and beyond. The first panel in the exhibition is by Colo himself, highlighting the alchemical and potentially transcendent possibilities that arise from the collaboration of artists and poets across distances, languages, and generations.
Colo's panel reads, "English Spanish $ Spanglish," written in white paint against a black-coated plywood background. This inscription reflects the fusion of languages and the collective spirit born from the ceremony of co-creation. The installation, titled Octopus and Others: Acts of Collaboration & Poetics, provides a glimpse into the power of artistic collaboration at El Museo del Barrio.
Written by urgent.news from Hyperallergic's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
