This artist book is a continuation of Aromérica Parfumeur, Beatrice Glow’s 2016 exhibition realized at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Santiago de Chile's Sala Vespucio and Beatrice Glow: Spice Roots/Routes, her 2017 exhibit at the James B. Duke House, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. From staging a luxury perfume boutique in a commercial center to engaging with a story of American dynastic wealth, these works underline a parallel between how systemic violence and smell are invisible yet omnipresent.
The story begins in the early-modern period when spices magnetized us as a species to traverse unknown waters and lands. It then traces patterns of exploitation, wealth inequality and environmental degradation via the social history of plants to reveal the motivating force behind transnational networks of colonial conquests and commerce. By premising aromatic desire as the unlikely foundation of the Americas, the project stands in allyship with land-based cultural perspectives.
+ 6 by 9 inches; 140 pages; 56 illustrations
+Full color images of the exhibition documentation; behind-the-scenes tour through the research-creation process leading up to the visual and olfactory immersive experience
+Writings in English and Spanish by a diverse group of curators, artists, art historians, activists, journalists and artists. Contributing writers include Beatrice Glow, Maria Montt Strabucchi, Robin Joyce, Kristen Gaylord, KJ Baysa, Leslie Josephs, Senaquerib Astudillo, Amanda White and Jerónimo Bouza.
Note: The first edition, which had a soft dust jacket and a glassine envelope containing a limited edition hand aromatized olfactory art from the archives of Aromérica Parfumeur attached to interior front flap, has sold out.