Archives
1990-1999
The 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas
In the center of the painting we placed an image of a giant Olmec head, a witness to the 500 years of nature's destruction—here symbolized by stampeding buffalo—to the genocide of the native peoples and the aggressive exploitation of the two continents. Native cultures were burned and destroyed, and the original inhabitants were forced to flee, resulting in mass migrations. Many died along the way. Huge polluting cities were built over sacred buriel sites. Our approach to this “celebration” was to recognize it as an apocalypse.
The city of Montreuil asked three Montreuil artists to conceive of a project to “celebrate” the 500 anniversary of the discovery of America(s):
Ralph Petty from the USA, Diego Vegezzi from Argentina and Robin Lyon, a native American from the USA.
At the time the Eglise Saint Pierre Saint Paul in Montreuil was being renovated and the nave was filled with floor-to-ceiling scaffolding. We painted a 10 X 5 meter canvas that was hung on the scaffolding; we also wrapped the stone columns with paintings and hung sculptures in the nave.
Paintings
Drawings
