Ipseity at Vellum LA is the first solo exhibition by Spanish artist Enrique Agudo.
Ipseity is an installation of eight digital paintings by new media artist Enrique Agudo, presenting visualizations of contemporary notions of identity through the depiction of new deities and their environments, presenting allegorical scenes about the human self and our relationship to technology. Inspired by the Pre Raphaelites, these works take on our digital realities in the form of traditional painting, but making use of the most cutting edge technology.
These scenes present integrated generative animations connected to real-time data in which the digital and the physical are connected, reflect and question about the role technology distorts or magnifies our self perception and our place in the world, and how technology might be thought of as a generator of human culture, a tool for expansion of human identity and not merely a dooming resource with an apocalyptic price.
This project is the further exploration of The Pantheon of Queer Mythology, a virtual reality short film by the artist, about the visual dreamworlds of Queer identities in contemporary Western cities today, reaching further and questioning aspects of identity such as chosen family, gender identity, youth, sexuality, addiction, wisdom, cultural heritage, self-sabotage among others, and drawing parallels between how we inhabit this burning planet and how we view ourselves.
This project is made by an incredibly diverse team of mostly queer people from all walks of life, and its focus is not to dogmatically represent, but to simply create evocative work that will speak to the audience in one, many or all ways, to experience new media art that speaks to the role of technology in our lives but that is humanistic by design, that might spark introspection about the parallels between how our soul inhabits our bodies and how we inhabit the planet.
By opening eight windows into scenes that are connected, that are never the same, with deities that are speaking to who we are as humans, we create an interesting space between the digital and the physical that fosters curiosity and wonder.
The exhibition was on view from April 6 to May 14, 2023 with artworks available for sale through SuperRare.