Diango Hernández's creative work is triggered by personal experiences and memories.
The memory of a sad event in his life provides the background to his artist's book Losing You Tonight: one night shortly before his school graduation, a knife fight between two pupils—which led to one boy's death from his injuries—took place in the dormitory of their boarding school. Some weeks later, Diango Hernández found a written text between that pupil's mattress and bed frame; it was about his first encounter with art, in a very special place—a museum. Hernández links this memory to his general recollections of a school system that left little room to develop one's individuality. He takes these threads and weaves a story using the means of fine art, a story in which everyday objects—functional, technical, and decorative fittings—play a part. For those who are capable of reading them, they are the material from which stories may be woven—personal histories, which perhaps contain more truth than the official version.
This artist's book is published in two volumes (accompanied by a cotton bag) on the occasion of Diango Hernández' exhibition in the Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen, October 4, 2009 – April 5, 2010.
Born 1970 in Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, Diango Hernández lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany. His conceptual work, often categorised as “political art” (his visual lexicon borrows elements from his native country's socialist iconography), characterized by a poetic literalness streaked with dark humor, uses a wide range of media, focusing primarily on drawing and installation.
Hernández is the co-founder of the artists collaborative Ordo Amoris Cabinet (1994-2003).
Edited by Eva Schmidt.
Texts by Diango Hernández, Yilmaz Dziewior, Nuno Faria, Juan Antonio Molina, Giovanni Iovane, Adam Szymczyk, introduction by Steffen Mues and Eva Schmidt.
published in 2009
bilingual edition (English / German)
28 x 22 cm (hardcover), vol. 1 / 22 x 28 cm (softcover), vol. 2
