Opening January 18, 2025 Chelsea Walls 231 Tenth Ave. New York
In the realm where everyday capitalism intertwines with the clandestine commerce of narcotics, Dilan Torres’ illuminating works serve as a multi-dimensional compass guiding us through the intricate terrain of narco-liberalism. Dilan, with an “i,” Torres is on a mission to document and depict the distortion of modern life as influenced by the manipulations of power and money at the local level—power expressed through the collapse of institutions and governance. Torres undertakes the formidable task only art can offer: visualizing the emotional processing of a hexed double position shaped by the reluctant and immediate memory of the witness and the incompleteness of testimony given decades later.
The artist delves into these accounts in good faith, refraining from providing precise dates, focusing instead on the failed war on drugs in Mexico occurring over two Mexican presidential terms between 2006 and 2018. The current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, attests with compelling evidence that these terms were stolen, pointing out that past presidents conducted the wars to gain legitimacy and militarize Mexico. Within this context, Dilan Torres unveils for us the heavy metal theater of depredation that the narcostate came to represent, where the lifeworlds of drugs converge with the relentless march of capitalist forces. Fully affected by this volatile nexus, these drawings visualize how the complete restructuring of social life under narco-capitalism unearthed enigmatic forms of life that seem both outright uncanny and familiar.
Through Torres’ meticulous examination, we are not just presented with a narrative. We are called upon to actively contemplate the profound metamorphosis that occurs, in everyday life, when the pursuit of profit inter- twines with the allure of illicit substances, coming face to face with what Maziyar Ghiabi, the University of Exeter drug policy and state formation researcher, calls the entangled web of “mystification, predation, and alienation” that is permeating the everyday existence of societies ensnared in the grip of narco-capitalism.
Drawing upon a rich observation of the local material culture of Northern Mexico, Torres unveils the layers of this localized brand of narco-capitalism and exposes the intricate dance between power and agency, exploitation, and resistance. Even if you reframe the narrative to depict contemporary Ecuador or the rugged landscapes of Afghanistan, each diagrammatic gesture in Dilan Torres’ work reveals the distortion of social life and culture. The drawings expose the distortion of the historical or cultural object as it gets swamped in the radical materialism of narco influence.
Yet, amidst the darkness, there are flickers of hope – moments of emancipatory potential that transcend the confines of capitalist forms of life – especially as the artist gives us the privilege of distance and action. His drawings demonstrate moments of true liberation. This liberation is not mere rhetoric but the collective endeavor to forge alternative realities by understanding the grasp of narco-capitalism. It is a seeding hope, inviting us to imagine a world free from the shackles of oppression.
To this end, this selection of works is a testament to the transformative power of artistic ethnographic inquiry, inviting readers to peer beyond the surface and glimpse the hidden truths. They shimmer with the potential, resilience, and ingenuity of individuals navigating the treacherous currents of drug lifeworlds on this little planet of ours. With each turn of the page, we are reminded of the profound interconnectedness of our world—a world shaped by the spirit of human resilience and the relentless pursuit of freedom under the auspices of narco aesthetics, ethics, and politics.
In the tradition of the critic and anthropologist Michael Taussig’s rendered exploration of anthropological landscapes in Colombia, Torres’ work builds upon a broad tradition of artists exploring similar subject matter through drawing, inviting viewers to face the undergrowth of narco-capitalism. Although intentionally incomplete, his evocative attempts to create visual encyclopedias and vivid illustrations of the crisis challenge us to confront the complexities of our shared humanity and envision a world where the promise of liberation shatters the bonds of oppression.
As you immerse yourself in Torres’ narrative, you will witness the unseen value chain occurring at the local level between the raw, unprocessed product and the innocuous dime bag. The following works offer us the chance to interrogate the structures that bind us, with an opportunity to envision a world where marginalized voices are no longer subjugated. The seeds of transformation are sown by the unbearable account given in these drawings—relaying for us the subtle message that these images may also be premonitions of a future near our own.
– Hugo Hopping, Artist
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