untitled (endless...4-p.young)
- Reclaimed lamp shades, metal rod
- 185 x 24 x 24 in
- William Cordova
Peruvian-American artist William Cordova was born 1971 in Lima, Peru and grew up in Miami. He currently lives and works in Lima, New York, and Miami. Cordova earned his BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1996, and his MFA from Yale University in 2004.
William Cordova’s untitled (endless...4-p.young), 2013-23, is a large-scale, vertical sculpture of stacked, reclaimed lampshades. Cordova’s frequent use of such reclaimed materials and discarded items questions the functionality of art beyond an aesthetic or formal pursuit. The worn, marked condition of each lampshade evoke relational narratives of displacement and readaptation, subtly offering a sense of movement through different environments and moments in time. A discoloration of surface, a weathering of fabric become trace evidence of use and the foundation for a type of material afterlife. Repurposing of the lampshades into the monumental, undulating form of the structure opens a space of significance for the objects, interacting with the personal histories of each viewer to form new understandings of value and meaning.
Using found and discarded objects to examine ideas of transition and displacement, Cordova attributes this interest to his experiences growing up in both Lima and Miami and the complications of a bicultural childhood. He investigates the location-based differences in culture, language, and economics: installations, drawings, and sculptures combine discarded materials and ephemera to reconsider their cultural and historical significance. His recent works explore individuals, places, and narratives significant to the Civil Rights Movement that intersect with contemporary social and musical history.
His work is included in collections of the Whitney Museum, NY; Guggenheim Museum, NY; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Yale Art Gallery, New Haven; Museo de Arte de Lima, Peru; Ellipse Foundation, Cascais, Portugal; Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami; La Casa de las Americas, Havana, Cuba; among others.