CANADA are the monumental letters which, for over 50 years, advertised a famous Mexican shoe brand, along the Condominio Insurgentes façade at the Insurgentes Avenue in Mexico City.
At the turn of the millennium the company went bankrupt and the letters, which had become an urban referent, were brought down.
Encouraged by nostalgia and his sense of anticipation Ramiro Chaves recovered the letters, moved them onto the rooftop of the Carrillo Gil Art Museum and arranged them to be exhibited there.
During their time, the enormous six letters had manifold meanings for daily life in México City. Their geographical location was an urban landmark, their size and style were a symbol of the prosperous Mexican industry and their modern design expressed the aesthetic ideal and luminosity that characterized the cities of the Belle Époque.
A few years after the economical failure of CANADA these letters became a forgotten document that Ramiro Chaves decided to rescue by conferring it an artistic cultural value.
The artist has therefore highlighted the multiple levels in which an object can be read.