Patrick Hamilton: Esthetics of Underdevelopment

The book contains a review of Patrick Hamilton's artistic career, from his beginnings with the series Project, - covering works of architecture, which began in 1996, two years before graduating from art school - to his most recent works. Driven by a desire to move painting onto another plane, Hamilton has created a body of work along object- and concept-based lines with a foundation in his interest towards cultural, historical and literary research. Using the starting point of Santiago, the city where he has lived and worked until recently, Hamilton has woven together countless works over a time period equivalent to a career that has now lasted nearly twenty years. The visual metaphors, popular myths and historical events in them are given form in an impeccable conceptual and visual presentation, which he uses to look for answers to all of the questions which arise on a daily basis in the society of which he forms a part as a citizen and artist. His work takes place mainly in the field of photography, collage, objects and installations and includes a reflection on the concepts of work, inequality, architecture and history - particularly of Chile post-dictatorship. In this sense it is an aesthetic reflection on the consequences of the 'neoliberal revolution' implanted in Chile during the '80s and its projection in the social and cultural field from then until now. Patrick Hamilton (Leuven, Belgium, 1974) has a degree in Art from the University of Chile. He received a Guggenheim fellowship in 2007. He has had exhibitions at numerous international institutions and has taken part in the Venice Biennale with Chile. He lives and works in Madrid.