Born in Comalapa, Guatemala, Ángel Poyón Cali is a Kaqchikel Maya artist. His daily life flows through the observation, learning, and revitalization of “being” within the “milpa system” – a pre- Hispanic nutritional and crop association method – in his native soil. His endogenous experience allows him to engage in dialogue with contemporary aesthetics through self-reflection that de-exoticizes, meaning his work challenges the exoticizing clichés surrounding indigenous peoples. His works possess a conversational quality that questions established civilizational boundaries. Through his art, he makes political statements against the positivist linearity of modernity through the multidimensionality and diffraction of ideas, narratives, and meanings in Kaqchikel Maya daily life.
Poyón Cali learned to cultivate the land at the same time as he blended and transformed objects using soil, leaves, clocks, feather down, the burnt tips of firewood, and more. He has held several joint exhibitions with Fernando Poyón, such as “Sik’inik Chukojol Cholaj, Chukojol Nïm Taq Jay” (“Voices, shouts among the furrows, between buildings”) at the LaPau Gallery (Los Angeles, USA) and the Centro Cultural Aj Sya’ (Patzicía, Guatemala); Artbo con Galería T20 (Bogotá, Colombia); the Colección Poyón at El Lobi (Puerto Rico); “Here we are” at KM0.2 (Puerto Rico); Proyecto Poporopo (Guatemala); and Galería T20 (Murcia, Spain). His work has featured in group exhibitions such as “Primavera Silenciosa” (Silent Spring) at the Luciana Brito Galeria (São Paulo, Brazil); the North Carolina Museum of Art (USA); the Casa de América (Madrid, Spain); the Galería MUY (San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico); WhiteBox.art in Munich; and other venues.
Among various collections, some of his works are held by the Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid, Spain); the Fischer/Shull Collection in Asheville (North Carolina, USA) and in Mérida (Mexico); the Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo (San José, Costa Rica); TEOR/éTica (San José, Costa Rica); the Sayago & Pardon Collection (California, USA); and the World Bank in Washington, D.C. (USA).
Born in Comalapa, Guatemala, Ángel Poyón Cali is a Kaqchikel Maya artist. His daily life flows through the observation, learning, and revitalization of “being” within the “milpa system” – a pre- Hispanic nutritional and crop association method – in his native soil. His endogenous experience allows him to engage in dialogue with contemporary aesthetics through self-reflection that de-exoticizes, meaning his work challenges the exoticizing clichés surrounding indigenous peoples. His works possess a conversational quality that questions established civilizational boundaries. Through his art, he makes political statements against the positivist linearity of modernity through the multidimensionality and diffraction of ideas, narratives, and meanings in Kaqchikel Maya daily life.
Poyón Cali learned to cultivate the land at the same time as he blended and transformed objects using soil, leaves, clocks, feather down, the burnt tips of firewood, and more. He has held several joint exhibitions with Fernando Poyón, such as “Sik’inik Chukojol Cholaj, Chukojol Nïm Taq Jay” (“Voices, shouts among the furrows, between buildings”) at the LaPau Gallery (Los Angeles, USA) and the Centro Cultural Aj Sya’ (Patzicía, Guatemala); Artbo con Galería T20 (Bogotá, Colombia); the Colección Poyón at El Lobi (Puerto Rico); “Here we are” at KM0.2 (Puerto Rico); Proyecto Poporopo (Guatemala); and Galería T20 (Murcia, Spain). His work has featured in group exhibitions such as “Primavera Silenciosa” (Silent Spring) at the Luciana Brito Galeria (São Paulo, Brazil); the North Carolina Museum of Art (USA); the Casa de América (Madrid, Spain); the Galería MUY (San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico); WhiteBox.art in Munich; and other venues.
Among various collections, some of his works are held by the Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid, Spain); the Fischer/Shull Collection in Asheville (North Carolina, USA) and in Mérida (Mexico); the Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo (San José, Costa Rica); TEOR/éTica (San José, Costa Rica); the Sayago & Pardon Collection (California, USA); and the World Bank in Washington, D.C. (USA).