Sebastian Correa
Squatstudies
Xime Shanghai
December 2018
In his latest series #squatstudies, photographer and illustrator Sebastián Correa revisits a posture deeply embedded into the ways our bodies are anatomically structured.
Begun in 2017, his graphic representations of this archetypal, physiological posture resuscitate an art form that has been all but forgotten in the West, an extinction consummated by the artificial construct of "civilization" as well as ubiquitous office jobs that demand sedentary positionalities. Indeed, even in a city such as Shanghai - at once both ancient and modern - squatting is disappearing, increasingly relegated to the margins of an ever expanding megalopolis under the narrative of progress.
Squatting, however, isn’t just an artifact or vestige of our evolutionary and developmental history. A large swath of the planet’s population still does it on a daily basis, whether to rest, to pray, to cook, to share a meal, or to use the toilet. As they learn to walk, toddlers from New York City to Santiago to Shanghai squat — and stand up from a squat — with grace and ease.
Through his illustrations, the artist calls for a meditation on humanity's shared experience and a return to our species' common origins, as squatting is also a position associated with that most fundamental part of life: birth.
Relaciones
Depot
December 2019
May 2019
Taking the original illustration that was featured at the first issue of Chopsuey magazine, Sebastian Correa shows us a selection of images that portrays an old Shanghai that seems to start to disappear.
With a selection of 8 original works and screen print version of those, Sebastian brings corners of the city as a street barbershop or as distinctive places as the marriage market at people square. Always in simple lines and bright and limited colors.