Coirón

In his first Solo Exhibition ‘COIRÓN’, photographer Pie Aerts explores the intimate world of some of Chile’s last puesteros, offering a collective reflection on rural life in contemporary Chile.

COIRÓN is a long-form documentary project photographed by Dutch photographer Pie Aerts in the Chilean region of Magallanes. It follows aging gauchos known as puesteros, who live and work alone for months at a time across vast private ranches.

Decades of seclusion and exploitation leave these men struggling with profound mental health issues. Their lives, often silent, are shaped by distance, long periods of solitude, backbreaking physical labour on land they do not own and a lack of retirement provisions when their body begins to fail.

Meanwhile, the wider region is undergoing rapid social, cultural, and economic change. Fewer young people feel the desire to pursue a life on the land, and increasingly turn away from rural labour, interrupting a cycle of generational knowledge that has sustained life on the estancias for decades. As a result, most of these men constantly shift between embracing and resisting the inevitability of change, which creates a complex internal dialogue.

For a period of 6 years, Aerts followed their daily labour and stillness, offering a collective reflection on rural life in contemporary Chile, where meaning emerges through repetition, gesture, and the slow accumulation of time.

The one thing they all had in common, is the fact that once the time comes that they can no longer do the physical work, they’re forced to go into towns and ‘regular society’ to live a life they’ve never known. Yet, despite the hardship, these men face the erosion of their culture and fading identity with dignity, resilience, and pride.

Their interweaving stories form an intimate, complex portrait of a way of life on the brink of disappearing. A meditation on stillness, human resilience and the inevitable passing of time.

The exhibition

To accompany the release of COIRÓN, Aerts will present a 3-day exhibition at Galla Studios in Amsterdam, featuring a selection of 26 large-scale photographs from the project. No need to RSVP. Free walk in.

September 11,12,13 | Each day 10am-10pm | Galla Studios, Amsterdam

About the artist

Pie Aerts (b. 1985) is a Dutch photographer based in Haarlem. His work examines and questions the intricate and often melancholic relationship between people and place, in an attempt to explain why we seem increasingly disconnected from each other, ourselves, and the environment that sustains us. By offering nuanced and personal perspectives on memory, longing and human resilience, he explores how cultural identity is deeply intertwined with the natural landscapes we inhabit. In doing so, he consistently chooses to prioritise hope over despair.