Un camino lleno de espinos / 2026
Two genres intertwine uniquely in Kevin Mancera`s work: the reportage and the roadmovie.
The first one, in its visual aspect, is often associated with immediacy and urgency, utilizing photography or film to capture a reality that is assumed to be direct and contextual. Drawing, on the other hand, functions at a different pace: it requires time, selective attention, and a thoroughness that distances it from the instantaneous capture of images.
As a reportage, the drawing does not pretend to be objective; rather, it offers aprofoundly mediated version of events, filtered through the gaze and the hand thattraces it. Each line becomes an act of interpretation, where observation blends withmemory, and where the time spent drawing allows the scene to be instilled withnuances, silences, and details that an immediate might overlook. Thus, drawing asreportage is less a faithful reproduction and more a personal, deliberately subjectivechronicle, in which reality is distilled into a poetic and critical synthesis.
The road movie, on the other hand, is a genre that prioritizes the journey over thefinal destination. The essential elements unfold in the dialogues and interiormonologues of its main characters, confined in the vehicle and marked by theepisodic experiences of each stop. Mancera transfers this logic to his work: the journey is both physical and narrative, and the process of traveling is inseparable from the form and content of the work. As in previous projects, his drawings end upcompiled in a publication that functions as a travel log; in this case, a humorous andsharp-witted version of travel literature.
In 2010, Mancera embarked on a journey through Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina, following an unusual route: searching the map for towns or places called “Felicidad” (Happiness). This itinerary guided him through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Cuba, and Mexico. The journey, similar to memory, was selectiv and random: without hierarchies or pretensions of exhaustiveness. Everything could be worthy of a space in the notebook, from expressions of popular religiosity tosporting celebrations; from tourist clichés to everyday absurdities and unexpected findings. Each scene
With this background, it was only natural to invite him to participate in the Bogotá Artand City Biennial - BOG25, entitled “Ensayos sobre la Felicidad” (Essays onHappiness), proposing a new version of that literal search for happiness, but nowfocussed on the Colombian capital: the event`s venue and theme. Kevin accepted, but understood that, in a sense, he had already made that journey. Born, raised, and trained as an artist in Bogotá, before emigrating permanently to the Netherlands, he had lived in fourteen different neighborhoods and explored the city tirelessly. Hence, this new project became a return journey, a way of retracing his own steps. “Today, looking at the images with some distance, I understand that this publication is like afarewell. Not only from the city I inhabited in my youth, but also from the Bogotá I nolonger live in.”
The process, however, changed. He dedicated himself to walk through Bogotá,which allowed him to have multiple starting points and, at the same time, tounderstand the complexity and difficulties of the city. Instead of simply searching forplaces called “felicidad” (happiness), Mancera set out to find places with names loaded with meaning. In this process, he formed two groups: on the one hand, thosethat somehow evoke the idea of happiness: Nuevo Horizonte, Campo Alegre, ElParaíso, El Lucero, El Retiro, La Paz, El Encanto, El Refugio, La Gloria, El Porvenir ,La Suerte, Delicias, Tierra Buena, La Serena, La Fortuna, among many others; the list is extensive. And on the other hand, neighborhoods whose equally poetic names,contributed to shape the project: La Estrellita, La Cita, El Rocío, El Oasis, El Retazo, Los Cristales, Matatigres, El Reflejo, etc.
Lastly, this is also a very personal and emotionally charged project. The life of thelocal immigrant is hard, and reality often contradicts the promise of a better life in the city: The series begins with a portrait of my grandfather, accompanied by some words he said to me before saying goodbye on my last trip to Colombia: “Here iswhat you got. Say yes” This is one of those phrases my grandfather often has on the
tip of his tongue all day long, and which he suddenly blurts out, without warning, andwithout any context. I like that he is present because he represents the essence oft his project: a man who arrived with his family, carrying more sorrow than luggage, to a city that promised prosperity, but that in reality turned out to be a road full ofthorns”
Jose Roca
Published by Tangrama
85 pages
21 X 29.70 cm
500 copies
202585 pages
21 X 29.70 cm
500 copies