Nicolás Grum

Born in Santiago de Chile in 1977. In 2001 he obtained his Bachelor degree in Fine Arts at the PUC University in Santiago, Chile.

“In the last few years, my practice has investigated power structures and the diverse ways they operate according to their context. I am particularly focused on uneven power relations within social systems and understanding reality as a space that functions through manipulation, revisions, deceit, and power. These principles, when subverted within my work, allow me to reach failures, ironies and absurd hypotheses about history and the present.

My work ranges from the analysis of the reality built by industries such as the film industry (using Hollywood movies that mention “Chile” as something exotic or distant) to researching the way policing and economic systems works (‘leaving’ a ‘suspicious package’ in the New York Subway, or calling Budweiser’s Customer Service to make a complaint about a bottle that contained a floating Statue of Liberty inside). My most recent pieces are centered on reviewing the form in which history is built and classified. Using a series of museum dioramas which depict scenes of forgotten or censored historical facts, it is possible to build an impossible museum, of a different narrative. I mostly perceive art as a form of versatile approximation, in which observation and adaptation to specific contexts are key, just like humor and critiques.” – Nicolás Grum

For more info go to Nicolás Grum’s website