Two artworks have been created by Hermanos Santiago to commemorate the Covid-19 emergency which seems to be completely unmanageable by the local authorities in South America. In Guayaquil, in the southwest of Ecuador, the healthcare facilities were already at the brink of collapse at the onset of the emergency, and are unable to care for the sick or to recover the bodies of victims of the pandemic.  The poorest population is forced to keep the corpses at home for many days, and to then abandon them illegally in the streets or burn them with petrol along the sidewalks.  

THE NATIVITY SCENES OF HERMANOS SANTIAGO

Fake news is the theme of the nativity scenes by Hermanos Santiago – Milanese art collective of Mexican origin, specialised in revisiting Christian iconography – who unveils a series of Nativity scenes for Christmas.

“Mystification” is the title of the cycle of nativity scenes, which takes us into a world where the sacred is recounted in a false, tendentious and instrumental way, expressed in the genres of television drama series.

“HOSPITAL (FAKE NEWS)” shows the untimely birth of a premature Jesus, “FANTASY (FAKE NEWS)” tells of the disturbing birth of a giant egg, however condemned to sacrifice for the salvation of humanity. And also, the inaccurate fairy tales of “FAIRY TALE (FAKE NEWS)” and melodrama of “WHITE CHRISTMAS (FAKE NEWS)”: where a proudly “white” conception of the divine cannot comprehend a black Baby Jesus, seeing it as a lie.

What do Hermanos Santiago see? Live on Instagram, a collection of images from Italy and the world.

Hermanos Santiago and the artwork “Mom Have Mercy” on the first number of ANEW!, the international magazine founded by Francesco Bonami, Martina Mondadori and Coco Brandolini D’Adda. For the issue, a double cover by Rob Pruitt and Douglas Gordon.

“Divine, too divine”: an artistic project of Catholic iconography reinterpretation. Ten years of Hermanos Santiago in one book.