presented at / commissioned by
​LESLIE-LOHMAN MUSEUM, NYC

Unknown, Head of a youth, ca.475-400 BC, marble, 7.5 x 4.75 x 5.25 in.
​Leslie-Lohman Collection.

Attribution is a defiant and challenging approach to art making which combines unorthodox curatorial practices with techniques used to research and build a historical novel. While facts establish a strong historical foundation, fiction enables the artist to build a narrative in which fluidity plays an important role linking and intertwining the topics addressed in the exhibition. The exhibition comprises works specifically created for the occasion, as well as works treasured by the Leslie-Lohman Museum and from other public and private collections. Creator and curator are the same person behind the building of this show. From this twisted relationship a new creature is born to question the fragile line that separates facts from fiction.

​Attribution is layered with intersectional issues dealing with otherness as a form of inquiry rooted in the human condition and history: the Graeco-Latin duality, which swings between Apollonian order and Dionysian excess; the impact of psychoanalysis on artistic expression and its influence on the construction of twentieth century imagery; the correlation between pain, pleasure, queer sexuality, and martyr iconography; the racial, social and sexual transgressions shaped by the impact of black culture both in the USA and abroad; and finally, water as seminal element present in the underground secret society named The Cult of Fluids and in the concept of Roland Barthes’s “abyss”.

Dealing with such material looks like an illusion in tune with Paco Cao´s fate. It could be understood as an astral conjunction that undermines all signs of truth, but at the same time, entails the revalidation of self and other. Mystery and certainty can be extraordinarily fertile allies.

Attribution aims to offer some observations to chisel an amalgam of materials whose counterpoint is the viewers´ point of view. The artist leaves it to the viewer discretion to look for anomalies in order to separate the wheat from the chaff, find out the truth behind the ploy and, if necessary, dismantle an artfully disguised lie.

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