There is a common saying in Mexico that goes: Árbol que nace Torcido, jamás su rama endereza (Crooked born tree, its branches never grow straight), which normally applies to people that have bad luck in their lives; like some kind of curse, a destiny marked by their constant failure. This image and idea of the crooked or bent tree has helped me realise and name one of my pieces, Bluebird Self-Portrait, which attempts to battle against the idea of this kind of individual destiny.

Continuing with the kind of themes that have been with me in my work (destiny, luck, the search for happiness, love and memory), the piece includes a poem by one of my favourite writers, Charles Bukowski, that tries to define the feeling the piece is intending to show.

With this piece I have made a new two-part video in which music plays the main role. I used an old romantic Mexican ballad from the 70’s, which is named Felicidad (Happiness), to play with the idea of the musical video. In the first part, with my nephews’ help, a very simple action takes place; it presents the English translation of the song, so in that way this video introduces the next one, which is in reality an electronic version of the same song.

This first part, with this mise en scene purely textual version of the original song, plays with a selection of images in a more relaxed way, relaying the feelings that the music transmits. Enrique Rangel, the bass player of the Mexican rock group Café Tacuba, mixed the electronic version of the original song. This is my first attempt at using video from another perspective. I also present one new drawing installation with the themes and images in the same spirit.

Daniel Guzman lives and works in Mexico City. He has exhibited widely both in Mexico and abroad including: Gallery Kurimanzutto, Mexico City, International Studio Program, New York, Andrew Kreps, New York, Generalli Foundation, Switzerland and he is currently showing at the CCAC Institute, Los Angeles and at the Korean Bienalle and will be showing at the Montreal Bienalle.

For further information or images please contact Martin Rasmussen: +44 (0)20 7729 9888 or: martin@vilmagold.com