Adrián Balseca's First Italian Solo Show at PAV Torino

Ecuadorian artist Adrián Balseca (born 1989, Quito) presents his first solo exhibition in Italy, 'Cambio de Fuerza,' curated by Marco Scotini at the PAV (Parco Arte Vivente) in Turin. The show, running from December 2024, spans a decade of work (2014–2024) and includes archival materials, maps, photographs, and installations that critique extractivism and Western ecological policies. Balseca's practice explores the intersection of power, geography, and industrial exploitation, drawing on Ecuador's history of oil and rubber extraction. Key works include 'Plantasia Oil Co.' (2021–ongoing), 'The Skin of Labour' (2016), and 'Incisiones' (2019), which document tire treads carved into rubber trees. The exhibition title reworks the 1979 political slogan 'La Fuerza del Cambio' used by Ecuadorian president Jaime Roldós Aguilera, shifting its meaning to question the nature of force and change. Balseca's early involvement with the collective Tranvía Cero (2006–2009) shaped his relational and community-based approach, emerging from Ecuador's 1999–2000 economic crisis and dollarization. The show also features maps from Texaco-Gulf and Polémica No. 1, revealing oil concessions in the Ecuadorian Amazon, alongside John Paul Goode's homolosine projection. PAV's location on a former industrial site (Framtek) resonates with Balseca's themes of post-industrial decay and ecological reclamation.