In his work, the Mexican artist Diego Moreno deals with very personal experiences growing up in an environment deeply marked by religion, in which he did not recognize himself. Aware of his homosexuality from a young age, Moreno considered it incompatible with the “good” values instilled in him by his family, school and the Catholic Church. In Malign Influences he imagines an alternative reality composed of monstrous beings. He manipulates photos taken from his family archives and retouches their faces by adding diabolical grimaces. These satanic creatures then become allies for him with whom he identified better than with the people represented, following the lasting rejection he had suffered. With In My Mind There is Never Silence, he confronts the themes of guilt and marginalization, integrating into everyday life the Panzudos, frightening and repulsive creatures from his native region, which are supposed to embody the propensity to sin.
From 2012 to 2014, Diego Moreno studied photography in Chiapas and Mexico City. He was selected in 2022 for the Foam Talent program. In the same year, his works were exhibited at the Foam Fotografiemuseum in Amsterdam and at the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation in Frankfurt/Eschborn. In 2020, he won the OpenWalls Arles competition of the British Journal of Photography
curators Anne-Marie Beckmann, Cornelia Siebert
partners Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, Fotohaus
L’Engagement
from July 1 to September 29, 2024
Fondation Manuel Rivera-Ortiz
18 rue de la Calade
13200 Arles
www.mrofoundation.org
