REWIND: Portrait of Pablo

6 prints on enamel, each approx. 27 x 40cm

Vienna 2007

Pablo Escobar is one of the most well known Colombians, even if he is dead since years. He was hated by his enemies within the Colombian state machinery, itself massively linked to drug syndicates – but not the Escobar one. On the other hand he was – and still is – admired by many normal Colombians for his social commitment: building schools and hospitals and creating “jobs” in Colombia’s most successful industry.

Pablo Escobar himself lived in enormous luxury. Within these ruins of a once outstanding finca, the spirit of a weird genius, that proved that a man stays a child all live long, is still around.

The photographs of the original site were enhanced with flashes of the presence, both in a matter of time and in a physical matter. The photographs are presented as prints on enamel in a very old-fashioned way, but produced with the most modern printing technology. This underlines the contradictory correlation of presence and past.

Do you see Pablo’s daughter playing in the Jurassic park or just a concrete dinosaur fading away?

[view work] [deutsche version]