Manco Cápac (2015)

Manco Cápac, an artwork dating back to 2015, is a particular kind of portrait that is moving due to its incisive comment on human history.

The Incas trace their ancestry to mythical figures who emerged from holy places which were later regarded as shrines. Manco Cápac was the legendary founder of the Inca empire in Peru and the reputed founder of the capital Cuzco. Although exact dates are missing, it is generally acknowledged that the establishment of the Inca kingdom in Peru falls roughly within the 12th century.

According to the stories, Manco Cápac was not one afraid of encounters with foreign tribes, of which he even took control of in peaceful arrangements. Their rather primitive manner of living at that time was a reason to forge a welcoming approach towards Cápac’s rules and advice on building a society from scratch. Confrontation became thus an opportunity for creation in the right context for both parties.

In a recent interview, G. Vîrtosu shared a similar perspective with us:

"Life does not just spill onto the canvas as blood freely flows from our veins. It would be too easy, distasteful, and ultimately disappointing. The challenge of art is to extend the landscape so that it may bring the viewer, idea, artist, and experience together. Chaos and at the same time a simple embrace of the loss of boundaries are the portal to new understanding.".

The pictorial language translates the games involved in forcing change onto a situation or a being. Regular patchworks of color, clearly defined, articulate a feel of back-and-forth movement specific to “the state of exception” that Giorgio Agamben elaborated on. Upon discussing the political manners of imposing laws, he extrapolated on this mechanism that only appears as chaotic but in fact has an almost technical description which may be visually deciphered in the painting. Manco Cápac illustrates the original cycle of what was not yet history, but a present time during which the models of societies were being constructed. How history coagulates in various forms is both an artistic and philosophical exercise of transcription and Vîrtosu reminds us of the roots of refinement.