Whitney Biennial 2026 | Art & Artists

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Ignacio Gatica

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Sanhattan—the financial district of Santiago, Chile—was built shortly after Augusto Pinochet’s violent, US–backed dictatorship, which lasted from 1973 to 1990. Intentionally resembling Manhattan, it was intended as an architectural glorification of the free-market ideology espoused by the “Chicago Boys,” a group of economists trained in the United States. Ignacio Gatica’s installation combines cityscapes, dreamlike narration, and expert interviews to explore the ways that Sanhattan simulates, shadows, predicts, and resists its namesake. 

Sanhattan, el distrito financiero de Santiago de Chile, se construyó poco después de la violenta dictadura de Augusto Pinochet, respaldada por Estados Unidos, que duró de 1973 a 1990. Intencionalmente parecido a Manhattan, fue concebido como una glorificación arquitectónica de la ideología de libre mercado promovida por los “Chicago Boys”, un grupo de economistas educados en Estados Unidos. La instalación de Ignacio Gatica combina paisajes urbanos, una narración onírica y entrevistas con expertos para explorar las maneras en que Sanhattan simula, imita, predice y resiste a su homónimo.

Sanhattan, 2025

A hand holds a black-and-white photo aligning a building's spire with the real skyscraper.
A hand holds a black-and-white photo aligning a building's spire with the real skyscraper.

Ignacio Gatica, still from Sanhattan, 2025. Digital video, color, and sound, 18:57 min. Courtesy the artist

On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Frank WANG Yefeng, The Levitating Perils #2

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Learn more at whitney.org/artport

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