Artist: Javier Mansilla (Chile)
His work is based on a constant exercise of manual labor and experience with materials.
He uses figurative painting as a gateway to the field of Arts, where his observations on biographic and global problems align with some key issues in the relationship between humans and the planet.
Some of his main solo shows include The Sun Has Set in the Horizon of my Mind at Moto Gallery (2009); Rubbish Bag Works at Estudio Panal, Nada Lokal (Austria) and CC San Antonio (2015).
Artwork: Cosmética Capilar del Nuevo Mundo
Hair Cosmetics of the New World is a painting / documentary project that explores the microworld of hairstylists in Yungay District, mapping the links between the beauty salon, the unisex salon, barbershops and the immigrant hairdressers. The work reveals the existence of this cosmetic community and works out a link through the painting portraits, presenting an inventory of hairstyles and current cosmetic designs.
Hairstyling and art appear combined here, throwing light on this silent practice; as frivolous as it may seem, it is a basic necessity, part of our family basket. The beauty salon plays a key role in the evolution of our identity as something that has to reinvent itself over time. Ultimately, it goes far beyond a simple haircut.
Place: Barbershops and beauty salons in Yungay District
“Peluquería OniDanny” Calle Rosas 2986
“Peluquería Erika ” Calle Chacabuco #707
“Peluquería Belleza Latina” Calle Esperanza con San Pablo
“Peluquería Keka Rivas” Calle Esperanza #826
“Salón Omidia” Esperanza #781
“Los Barberos de Yungay” Compañía de Jesús #3088
The Yungay neighborhood, founded on April 5, 1839, is the “first planned neighborhood of the city of Santiago,” and embodies an important part of the architectural heritage of the 19th and 20th century. The neighborhood, designed by Jacinto Cueto and Juan de la Cruz Sotomayor, is checkerboard in form, in line with the historical center of the colonial city, but as a complex separate from the rest of the city.
In the mid-19th century constructions were five-storied houses, with interior courtyards, built of adobe – material that had dried in Plaza Yungay itself. The neighborhood’s name brings to mind the victory of the battle of Yungay against the Peru – Bolivian Confederation; therefore, every January 20th this victory is commemorated with a public party.
In this sector there are six historical monuments as well as four typical and historic preservation zones totaling more than 180 hectares. The Yungay neighborhood is considered by many as a germinal point of urban and republican Chilean culture for hosting important figures, intellectuals, and domestic and foreign creators who made a contribution to the development of the country. Yungay is currently sheltering creators of all kinds, who day by day carry out cultural and social initiatives. In addition to those who have lived for generations in the district, today its streets and squares are nourished with the presence of Latin American immigrants who have given a new color to the neighborhood.