Daniela de la Torre
Biquini Wax, 2021Twenty-four-year-old Daniela de la Torre wants to be the best Conceptual artist in the world. This deceptively simple premise drives Instant Classic, 2021, a Hollywood-ready fantasy in which the artist realizes her aspirations. Mimicking the generic structure of a rags-to-riches movie, the four-minute film—and centerpiece of the eponymous exhibition—documents our leading lady’s overnight rise to fame, culminating in a competition at a spoofed Venice Biennale. Clad in a chartreuse leotard, de la Torre performs a routine to a Gwen Stefani song before a row of dubiously qualified judges, the hypercritical gaze of curators, the jealous glares of art students, and the prying eyes of extravagantly dressed collectors. Her fate is likened to those of the protagonists of sports films like Rocky (1976) or The Karate Kid (1984): underdogs who must overcome all manner of hardships to achieve their dream. The film follows a similar plot arc when de la Torre trips and falls to the ground, only to get back up on her feet and, ultimately, succeed. The judges reluctantly grant her perfect scores.