Taking William Cordova's (born 1971) exhibition
ankaylli: spatial and ideological terrain
at Marfa Contemporary as a point of departure, this publication highlights the way the artist (who was born in Lima and is based in Miami) layers referents and histories across cultures. Bringing together a constellation of Cordova's artworks in a wide variety of medium—sculptures, collages, Polaroids, a video, objects around town, a free newspaper and a website—in which Pre-Columbian traditions, modern art and architecture, and spiritualism overlap, the exhibition stages these objects in the fitting home of Marfa, a town equally known for Native American history, minimalism and star-gazing. This book includes references to all three: stepped pyramid patterns, geometric concrete forms and symbols of the cosmos.