Abel Azcona

description of the work

The Fathers is an artistic work designed and developed by artist Abel Azcona during the years 2016 and 2018. A processual art project through installation, drawing, photography, video and performance. Was performed for the first time on June 26, 2016, by nine women linked to the world of prostitution and nine draftsmen specially trained in Physiognomy and Facial Recognition for the piece. The trigger for the performative process began in Madrid and the plastic result was later exhibited in different exhibition shows together with its installation. One hundred and twenty portraits as a result of a process that lasted more than two years, in which more than one hundred women who had practised prostitution in the past, of ten different nationalities, have sat at an endless table installed in different galleries and museums in Spain and Latin America. A piece that invites the viewer to reflect on paternity, in the case of Azcona, an unknown father and a mother in the practice of prostitution. About the figure of the prostitute and the whoremonger, to listen to their speech and description. A denunciation of the vision of society regarding the positive appreciation of the men who consume prostitution, and the negative assessment of the prostitute who is frequently subdued through economic exchange. At the beginning of the performative phase, the viewer was able to attend live the training of nine fine arts graduates by an expert physiognomist and trainer of facial recognition technicians. In the second performative phase, the nine draftsmen were integrated into the living installation designed by the artist together with nine women with experiences in the field of prostitution and trafficking. In an intimate relationship, each drawer interviewed one of the ex-prostitutes as a witness, and they physically described the man who, through payment, established their last sexual relationship, in a prostitution exchange. During the conversation, viewers were able to see live how the drawers were translating the description of the clients onto a blank paper. A face-to-face encounter between each physiognomist and each woman. Each encounter resulted in a descriptive portrait of the man who paid for sexually employing each of those women. They are the protagonists of the performative process, being heard by the portraitists, and between them both looking for the face that represents more than 50% of men in Spain, who have used and paid for prostitution relationships. They and the portraitists left the installation, but the portraits of each of the men described remained on the wooden table. Some portraits that later formed the exhibition of The Fathers project. One hundred and twenty drawings with faces emerged from the real stories of the protagonists. Making visible and showing the faces of the parents, representants the patriarchy and in a more personal standpoint representing Azcona’s father, or many parents.

120 portraits

120 portraits
Pencil on paper. 29,7 x 21 cm

3.960 € each

photographs performance documentation

10 photographs performance documentation

Digital printing on matte photo paper, medium weight

30 x 40 cm

Video

Video. Duration 11′ 12″. Horizontal. MP4

26.400 €