Ira Lombardía (Asturias, Spain, 1977) is the selected artist for the second edition of SCAN summer residency program. She will be occupying the SCAN project room as her studio and production space during the month of July.
‘Fragmented Dialogues’, it’s an exhibition at Austin / Desmond Fine Art in collaboration with CF-LART London that brings together the work of conceptual artist Mario Fonseca and photographer Mauricio Valenzuela. Both Fonseca and Valenzuela worked in Santiago, Chile, during the 1970s and 1980s. Despite two seemingly very different bodies of work, both artists intrinsically shared a strong dialogue around the notions of absence and prohibited identity.
Mario Fonseca is a visual artist, art critic, curator, academic, writer, designer and Chilean publisher. Born in Lima, Peru in 1948, he has lived in Chile since 1966. Fonseca enrolled in the School of Fine Art of the Universidad Católica in 1966 but dropped out of the programme to embark on his professional career in graphic design and edition. He also started to experiment with conceptual art in his artistic practice, a topic he would continue to develop for many years, becoming one of the forefront conceptual artists in Chile in the 80s. Only in 2009, did Fonseca obtain his Bachelor of Visual Arts with a degree in Photography.
Mauricio Valenzuela’s studies in Painting and Fine Art at the University of Bellas Artes, Santiago, were violently interrupted on 11th September 1973, the day the military junta toppled Allende’s government. Determined to pursue his studies despite the prevailing political climate, Valenzuela (1951) completed his visual arts education intermittently, in different art establishments, acquiring a degree in Theater Studies along the way. This unusual academic formation and a hitch-hiking trip from the island of Chiloe, South of Chile, to the Peruvian boarder, would define Valenzuela’s personal quest and sensitivity as a leading visual artist in Chilean photography.
Also on display are a selection of works by Edward Burra, Patrick Caulfield, Eduardo Chilida, John Craxton, David Hockney, Peter Lanyon, Tony Longson, Mary Martin, Margaret Mellis, Paul Nash, Victor Pasmore & Terry Pope.
Image ©Mario Fonseca“Negativo del autor / Positivo del autor” Habeas Corpus 7, 1981 Cardboard, kodalith, masking tape 28 x 21 cm each
—
Fragmented Dialogues: Mario Fonseca & Mauricio Valenzuela (Art and Identity in 1980s Chile)
Austin / Desmond Fine Art, London WC1B 3BN
11 May 2018 – 18 July 2018
Open on Saturday 23 and Saturday 30 June (11am-2.30pm)
The Ryder announces for next month the first UK solo exhibition of Andrés Pereira Paz (La Paz, Bolivia, 1986).
The constant shift in a sense of identity set against the endless fluctuation of people and narratives are the conditions in which artist Andrés Pereira Paz likes to operate. His works examine the role that pre-Hispanic and postcolonial arts and crafts play in the construction of cultural identity. Appropriating Andean imagery he explores how the collective and individual can both support and undermine one another in this process.
It has been observed that a condition of impending doom haunts millennial culture. How quickly the dark omens become real (or unreal or are for now deferred) remains to be seen. There is a kind of anxiety in a state of negative anticipation, and yet a dark pleasure, but it is evident we feel ourselves at a threshold. The aim of this exhibition is to stimulate a mutual energy, a static spark in still air like a state of expectation or risk.
González shows in his works ‘surrealistic’ architecture in a natural landscape. His visionary constructions are close to Le Corbusier, projects of buildings made out of béton brut and futuristic visions of cities inspired by Japanese metabolism architecture especially Kenzo Tange and Kisho Kurokawa. But González does not limit himself only to architecture sketches. He is exploring any kind of art, getting inspiration from Italian Futurist movement, Giorgio de Chirico’s archways and Xavier Corberó’s architectural sculptures.
Last week, Madrid’s number one emerging art fair announced their move to a new space in Nuñez de Balboa 32. The new venue, which will be called JUST SPACE, is a 1,500 square metre space and is situated in one of Madrid’s most dynamic and central districts.
JustMAD9 is curated with a focus on the concept of the Encounter between Europe and Latin America and will be organized into the following sections: General Program; Brand New, a commissioned section for newly established galleries with innovative programming, to introduce them to the gallery circuit through JustMAD; and Solo Project, which will give galleries the opportunity to dedicate their stand to the work of a single artist.
Since the beginning of this month we have a great exhibition at Victoria Miro Gallery in London, a show comprising paintings and an installation of lamps by the Mexico-based Cuban-American artist Jorge Pardo.