Alessandro Balteo-Yazbeck critiques cultural imperialism through collages and installations at Galerie Martin Janda

Venezuelan-born, Berlin-based artist Alessandro Balteo-Yazbeck presents 'All the Lands from Sunrise to Sunset' at Galerie Martin Janda in Vienna from 17 January to 29 February. The exhibition transforms imperialist maxims from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Persia into contemporary hashtags and email addresses through colorful paper collages. Twenty-five works spanning 2004 to 2019 occupy all three floors of the gallery, including sculptures, installations, found objects, and a video. Balteo-Yazbeck critiques cultural imperialism by overlaying historical references with modern consumer typefaces against backgrounds of fashion magazine fragments and stock photos. Five olive wood sculptures, irreverent remakes of works by Attilio Napolitano, stand on cylindrical plinths in the main space. The video installation 'Chronoscope 1952 or 1953 11pm (1)' (2012–17) features a defaced CBS public affairs show about Cold War military interests. 'Ian’s Gulf (maps version)' (2018) displays framed 1951 Fortune magazine maps of the Middle East highlighting strategic resources. The exhibition connects imperial extractivism to contemporary art's conceptual practices, with works like 'Comfort' (2019) linking Mies van der Rohe's 1927 chaise longue design to intellectual property critiques. 'Warao Chinchorro / Hammock (Water-Oil)' (2004–14) incorporates a hammock woven by the indigenous Warao people of the Orinoco Delta with a pigment print by photographer Holger Niehaus.