Patricia Monclús: Pico Radial
In her first solo exhibition, Pico Radial, interdisciplinary artist Patricia Monclús creates a make-believe fighting ring modeled after the cockfighting arenas, or galleras, found in her native country of Colombia. The experimental installation features a mock sports entertainment program screened on two analog cathode ray tube (CRT) television sets, LED panels, a banner, and intimate hexagonal bleachers. Using affordable, industrial materials like metal tubing, mesh, and limewash paint, Monclús constructs a setting that reflects the makeshift spirit of this underground sport, while capturing the subversive essence of DIY subcultural spaces.
The title, Pico Radial, is a play on words that aptly captures the way Monclús infuses a sense of whimsy and absurdist humor into an otherwise brutal and chaotic practice. “Pico” is a polysemous Spanish word meaning the beak of a bird, the peak of a mountain, the climax of an event or story, or a pop kiss, while “radial” refers to the arrangement of lines or waves diverging from a central point. Through this interplay of meanings, Monclús uses language, both written and visual, to consider and interrogate the way that broader norms, traditions, attitudes are shaped, represented, and perpetuated within cultural discourse.
Central to the exhibition is a mock entertainment program that features a collection of chicken-themed Internet ephemera, radio excerpts, and television snippets sourced from the public domain that Monclús transforms and manipulates visually and auditorily using generative AI, animation tools, and both analog and digital software. The animations are screened from two analog television sets suspended from ceiling mounts, evoking the placement and function of video displays used in sporting events. As Monclús states, “The AI-driven animations and digital artifacts are a visual and experimental interpretation of cultural narratives, told through the lens of idioms and proverbs about chickens.”
A banner prominently featuring the phrase “Broadcasting Arena Cock-a-doodle-doo” and the acronym “BAC” (a nod to both the Bakehouse Art Complex and the theatrical, competitive nature of cockfighting) serves as a visual and conceptual backdrop to the mock entertainment program. Beneath the text, a knight’s helmet is ornately adorned with a rooster’s comb and its steel surface engraved with a wide-eyed, courching chicken. Drawing on historical motifs discovered during her research, Monclús uses these layered visual elements to show the duality between spectacle and violence inherent in cockfighting culture. Simultaneously, the playfulness of the banner, with its reference to the rooster’s crow, adds a satirical lens to the examination of power and performance.
Complementing the text-based imagery of the banner and the animations on the TV screens, two LED screens continuously display chicken-related proverbs, idioms, and phrases in both English and Spanish. Sayings such as “The rooster may crow, but the hen lays the eggs” highlight the pervasive role of chickens within language and human expression. By juxtaposing these expressions with the setting and context of cockfighting, one of the oldest known sports in the world, Monclús draws attention to the ways common language reflects deeper socio-cultural beliefs, attitudes, and norms. The scrolling texts function as a form of commentary that humorously and critically examines how chickens have come to symbolize a range of meanings and symbolisms across cultures and time.
Pico Radial considers the democratization of mass media production and the hoarding of digital assets, examining dissemination methods from radio broadcasting to the Internet. Through the installation, Monclús critiques and reimagines how we consume and propagate cultural narratives, inviting viewers to participate in a multi-layered experience and dynamic beyond the gallery walls. The use of LED displays, TV screens, and a banner, elements associated with modern advertising and broadcast media, further ties into Monclús’s exploration of dissemination and the spectacle of performance. This creates a tension between traditional, folkloric wisdom and contemporary communication technologies, reinforcing the exhibition’s playful yet incisive critique of how cultural constructs are shaped and shared.
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About the artist
Patricia Monclús (b. 1989, Los Angeles, CA) is a Miami-based visual artist and educator raised between Spain and Colombia. Through her practice, which encompasses painting, animation, and installation, she constructs images by exploring symbols and their meaning, drawing on her cultural heritage and the collective imagination. She has participated in several group exhibitions including summer school at Homework Gallery (2023) and Viewpoints: Expressions of an artist community at Bakehouse Art Complex (2021), Collected Impressions at Coral Contemporary Gallery (2020), among others. In 2021, she created The Scorpion in the Steam, a mural commissioned for the Sagamore Hotel in Miami Beach, FL. She has been a studio resident at Bakehouse Art Complex since 2018, after graduating from New World School of the Arts.
This exhibition is supported by:
Arison Arts Foundation; John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation at The Miami Foundation; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council; and, National Endowment for the Arts.