Constructive fantasies of narco identity through aesthetics. A relational look at Contemporary Art

Abstract

In this article we silver the drift of an imaginary. Narratives on the narco aesthetic and its possibilities in relation to contemporary artistic practices.
We start from Matisse’s utopia to approach the postmodern scenario proposed, almost a hundred years later, by artists who come from the most
extravagant kitsch and capitalist universe, such as Damien Hirst, Maurizio Cattelan or Jeff Koons, where opulence, luxury and money are articulated in a
perverse and ironic speech. In this tour we pay attention to aspects of life such as architecture, fashion, music, cinema or television series produced by the
Netflix platform. We highlight the importance of drug trafficker Pablo Escobar, an icon of eccentricity and power, and we particularly point out his Hacienda
Napoles, a symbol of the Medellin cartel. On this estate, he created his own zoo where hippos have ended up as ready-mades, transnational symbols that
serve to produce new and exotic realities. Throughout the text we observe how crime and the illegal, in innumerable bizarre turns of postmodern history,
are incorporated into the narrative and even into aesthetic theory.