Saúl Kak's painting "Land-taking" features vibrant aquamarines and yellows, with dynamic shapes and overlapping figures creating a layered composition. The artwork depicts symbolic elements like human figures, animals, and industrial structures, suggesting a narrative of conflict and displacement. Kak employs a stylized technique, blending abstract and representational forms to convey emotional intensity. The piece reflects on the historical impact of territorial loss and the Chicoasén dam's construction in 1974, highlighting the cultural and environmental implications for the Zoque people. ...
Saúl Kak - filmmaker, experimenter in audio and digital art and inveterate and passionate painter, scours the narratives told to him by his tradition-imbued parents to give form and power to his people’s territorial claims and defense. In the series shown at Material Art Fair, Kak’s play of aquamarines (there is one word in Zoque covering blue-green on the spectrum) reflects the fact that part of Zoque territory was immersed in water when commandeered for making the Chicoasén dam in 1974. ...
