Trials to Formulate a Utopia, is a project thought specifically for Washington DC by Buenos Aires artist

Roma Blanco. Her work reflects the occultist connotations that are included in the founding cartography of the city.

 

Her exploration brings her to Washington DC to study the symbolism, themes and ideals of American Freemasons-known for brotherhood and utopian thinking since colonial times.

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This exhibition is the result of work created by Roma Blanco at Otis Street Arts Project during a residency in January 2019. The residency was a joint partnership between PANAL361, Rising Artist Network and Otis Street Arts Project.

 

For many settlers, coming to the New World (the American colonies) meant a new destiny full of opportunities, the desire to live life in a community where they could be free and happy. The book Utopia, by Thomas More, the New Jerusalem for Masons, the description of The Republic by Plato, and the Paradise in religious tales, all coincide with this idyllic plan to settle down in a place where healthy human and political conditions could be established for life in a community. The American Independence also embodied this romantic idea of developing a new social order that could come close to the spirit of the “Utopia” (No Topos: place that does not exist).

 

About the Artist:

Roma Blanco, was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina 1977. She lives and works in Buenos Aires. She is a Professor of Visual Arts and Museologist, graduated from the Martin Malharro School of Visual Arts (Mar del Plata, Argentina), and the Institute of Teacher and Technical Training No. 8 (La Plata, Argentina).   https://www.romablanco.com