An heterogeneous collection of books inspired by Karen Lamassonne: Ruido / Noise_, a Swiss Institute retrospective exhibition focusing on her 70’ and 80’ production. This table is here to give you some hints about the context that surrounds Lamassonne’s practice. Her work is a constant transfer and translation from photographic and cinematographic languages to pictorial, and vice versa. In the 80’s Lamassonne was based in the city of Cali, Colombia, known at the time as ‘Caliwood’ due to the effervescent film production. Cali is also the city of ‘Tropical Goth,’ a surprising artistic expression where dark and high contrast aesthetics are taken to another level, eerily juxtaposed with lush scenery. Why, in a city full of light, sempiternal summer, palm trees and vivid colors, did many artists decide to use black and white as their only palette to work with? Why are vampires and bloodsuckers a theme in this part of the world? All of these scenes are manifested in Lamassone’s work through bodies—female bodies, entangled bodies, partial bodies, staged bodies—that appeal to sensuality, joy and pleasure, not only in an erotic way but, above all, are a ludic exercise of reappropiation of self representation. _Karen Lamassonne: Ruido / Noise is on view until January 8, 2023. Learn more at swissinstitute.net.