THE LAND WHERE THE SUN WAS BORN

  • THE LAND WHERE THE SUN WAS BORN Wirikuta, a desert valley enclave in central Mexico, is the land of founding...

    THE LAND WHERE THE SUN WAS BORN

     

     

    Wirikuta, a desert valley enclave in central Mexico, is the land of founding myths and numerous deities for the Huichol Indians. Each year, they make a pilgrimage to honor the birth of the sun and fire. This coveted territory rich in natural and cultural resources has captured the imagination since the Spanish conquest and inspired many tales. Julien Lombardi combines photographs, videos and installations to immerse us in the transformations and sensitivities that have shaped this sacred land. His work diverts the visual codes of ethnology, archeology and biology to test their limits. Extracting, sampling and cutting are all mirror-gestures of the photographic act and of a technical relationship to the living world. Evoking fantastic realism, Lombardi suggests that the tools used to capture reality can be cross-fertilized with invisible phenomena to experiment new narrative forms.

  • ARTIST: Julien Lombardi Born 1980 in Marseille, France. Lives and works in Marseille, France, and Mexico City, Mexico. Julien Lombardi,...

    Portrait of Julien Lombardi © Julien Lombardi

    ARTIST: Julien Lombardi

    Born 1980 in Marseille, France.
    Lives and works in Marseille, France, and Mexico City, Mexico.
     
    Julien Lombardi, who has a master’s degree in ethnology, is freely inspired by his training to lead visual investigations based on long-term immersions in countries, notably Armenia, Mexico, and Egypt, before pursuing his formal research in the studio. He seeks to scramble the codes of photographic authenticity by experimenting with image layouts that offer new narrative forms. His first book, L’Inachevé, was published by Le Bec en l’air in 2017. His work is part of the collections of the Centre National des Arts Plastiques, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and the Château d’Eau. 

  • Julien Lombardi, Analysis, The land where the sun was born series, Mexico, 2017-2021. Courtesy of the artist.

  • Julien Lombardi, Kauyumari, the blue deer, The land where the sun was born series, Mexico, 2017-2021. Courtesy of the artist.

  • Julien Lombardi. Loss, The land where the sun was born series, Mexico, 2017-2021. Courtesy of the artist.

  • Julien Lombardi. Cabinet of curiosities (excerpt), The land where the sun was born series, Mexico, 2017-2021. Courtesy of the artist.

  • Julien Lombardi. After the ceremony, The land where the sun was born series, Mexico, 2017-2021. Courtesy of the artist.