FOCUS: LATIN AMERICA – A New Feature Exhibition Opens at the 2015 Fair
Art Toronto is pleased to announce FOCUS: LATIN AMERICA, a curated section of the fair highlighting galleries and projects from across Mexico, Central, and South America.
FOCUS: LATIN AMERICA is presented in partnership with Americas Society, New York.
Mexico City and Berlin-based independent curator Abaseh Mirvali is responsible for the 2015 curatorial project. Currently, she is curating a solo show of Canadian-Iranian artist Abbas Akhavan for FLORA ars+natura, in Bogotá, Colombia, for spring 2016, as well as an exhibition of the Brazilian artist Jac Leirner for Fondazione Giuliani in Rome for the fall of 2016.
She curated the first exhibitions in Latin America of the Turner Prize winner, artist Simon Starling, presented in the Luis Barragán House and Studio, and the Experimental Museum, El Eco, in Mexico City in 2015. She is the author of the concept & program development of the 2013 edition of The Biennial of the Americas where she served as CEO, Executive Director and Comisaria from 2011 to 2013. Between 2005 and 2008, at the invitation of Eugenio López Alonso, Ms. Mirvali was Executive Director of the Fundación/Colección Jumex, where she consolidated and developed one of the most distinguished collections of contemporary art for a private institution in Latin America.
This presentation will exhibit works by Eduardo Basualdo (ARG), Matías Duville (ARG), Max Gómez Canle (ARG), Catalina León (ARG), Mateo López (COL) and Milena Muzquiz (MX), all of whom are being exhibited in Toronto for the first time.
Nicole Franchy, From the series Infiernillo II. Collage on cotton paper, 200 x 100 cm.
Courtesy of the artist and Gonzalez Y Gonzalez Gallery, Lima, Peru and Brussels, Belgium
Of the project Mirvali writes: “Inheriting the artistic concerns of the second half of the twentieth century, where artists began to challenge the integrity of the two-dimensional work of art, the traditional painting on canvas, and its frame,(1) the selected artists for this presentation explore the limits of traditional disciplines such as painting, sculpture, drawing, to go beyond them. They take the concept and experiment with the physical nature of the canvas, the frame, the paint and other materials and in doing so challenge the viewer to negotiate a new relationship with the works. The curatorial concept envisioned is inspired by artists whose language presents a dialogue between art and architecture, a questioning of reality, expansion of the traditional languages and a demand that the viewer engage more closely with the works. The presentation is more a display of six solo artist presentations that share concerns about the artistic process and the need to go beyond the traditional artistic techniques. These artists leave behind the folklore, going beyond the stereotypes that sometimes are associated with the work by artists from Latin American and simply focus on their practice.”
[1] The Twentieth Century: Painting to object, Tate Gallery.
Eight Participating Galleries
We are thrilled to announce the participation of eight galleries from across Latin America:
Galería Enrique Guerrero (Mexico City, Mexico)
Galería Lucía de la Puente (Lima, Peru)
Galería Machete (Mexico City, Mexico)
Galería Baobab (Bogotá, Colombia)
Gonzalez Y Gonzalez (Lima, Peru and Brusseles, Belgium)
Revolver Galería (Lima, Peru)
Yael Rosenblut Gallery (Santiago, Chile)
Quimera del Arte (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
PLATFORM Lecture Series
Concurrent programming for FOCUS: LATIN AMERICA includes lectures and panel discussions by leading international artists and curators. Attendance at all talks is included in daily admission to Art Toronto.
Friday, October 23
4pm
POWER TALK
PRESENTED BY THE POWER PLANT
Sofia Hernández Chong Cuy: Fieldwork in Latin America
Hernández Chong Cuy will speak to her role in building the contemporary holdings of the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, one of the world’s foremost collections of art from Latin America.
Saturday, October 24
1pm
Latitude-West: Latin American Art After the Canon
PRESENTED BY AMERICAS SOCIETY
The panel is organized and moderated by Gabriela Rangel (Americas Society, New York), who will converse with curators Beverly Adams (Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX) and Tahia Rivero (Colección Mercantil, Caracas) about the curatorial strategies used to position Latin American art within the larger western art historical canon.
4pm
POWER TALK
PRESENTED BY THE POWER PLANT
Carlos Amorales: Black Cloud
Mexican artist Carlos Amorales, whose work will be on view at the Power Plant, discusses his recent work that combines sound, sculpture and live performance, encouraging interactions between object and individual.
6pm
FOCUS: LATIN AMERICA Artist Talk
This artist talk is organized and moderated by curator Abaseh Mirvali (Mexico City/Berlin), who will converse with visiting artists Catalina Leon (Argentina) and Max Gomez Canle (Argentina) with historical input from Gabriela Rangel (America’s Society, New York) on their practice, particularly focusing on the outline of painting as it relates to their work.
Sunday, October 25
3pm
POWER TALK
PRESENTED BY THE POWER PLANT
Elisabeth Vollert: La Otra Bienal, Bogotá: Contemporary art practice as social, environmental and urban integration
Vollert will discuss La Otra Bienal as a vital platform for contemporary art of Latin America and consider art within the public sphere as an interactive meeting point in the urban imaginary by means of re-signification, appropriation and recuperation.
For more information about the fair including tickets, features, talks and more, visit ArtToronto.ca.
