Poncho Rago (2000, Mexico City) explores the technical possibilities of appropriation as a creative tool to challenge and reframe the collective perspective on originality and copying in art. He puts this into practice by appropriating paintings, vintage photographs, and other objects found in the street markets (tianguis) of Mexico City. Using mixed media techniques, he incorporates symbology from the Mexican collective imagination alongside elements of his own nostalgia.
These acts of appropriation create a dialogue between the original composition and the intervention, establishing a bridge between past and present. By working on pre-existing pieces, he questions the idea that a finished work is untouchable. In doing so, his practice challenges the notion of art as a purely individual activity and originality as the only legitimate point of departure.
“Pásele, pásele: Arte bueno, bonito y apropiado” is not an “original” exhibition—and it takes pride in that. Its aim is to open up the viewer’s perspective to a form of contemporary creation that exists even in works not explicitly dealing with appropriation—because at the end of the day, all artists steal, copy, and appropriate. At the same time, the exhibition seeks to recontextualize copying and appropriation in art, presenting them as valid artistic techniques and creative tools.
The installation of the works creates a connection with the very place where they were originally found: the tianguis. Discovered on the ground, laid out over the classic pink tarp of the street market, these pieces are now exhibited in a space that becomes a juxtaposition between the tianguis atmosphere and that of a gallery—reinforcing the contrast between the informal and the institutional.
Additionally, to further connect the exhibition with the spirit of the tianguis, one of its most emblematic practices will be incorporated: haggling. This gesture will apply on all the artworks shown and it challenges the traditional structures of the art market and highlights the popular origins of the objects being reimagined.
