Dias & Riedweg…and it becomes something
May 12 – August 1
Curated by Gabriela Rangel
Americas Society
680 Park Ave.,
New York,
NY 10065
Gallery hours: Wed–Sat, 12:00–6:00 p.m.
Americas Society is proud to announce Dias & Riedweg…and it becomes something else, the first solo U.S. exhibition by Mauricio Dias and Walter Riedweg, a duo of Brazilian/Swiss internationally recognized artists based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Curated by Gabriela Rangel, the exhibition features five video and installation projects that examine the dichotomy between the private and the public spheres in different contexts. Dias & Riedweg’s practice tackles social and political issues through a poetic fusion of video, ethnography, and performance art, opening up new lines of thought about human interaction and identity across borders.For over fifteen years Dias & Riedweg have collaborated on multidisciplinary projects in Brazil, Europe, the United States, and the Middle East in which they have tested the critical potential of the moving image, using video to delve into the relationships between ethics and aesthetics and between art and politics. Directly involving both the subject and the viewer in their work, they sidestep traditional documentation to examine spaces of subjectivity in a technologically mediated world. Dias & Riedweg have garnered international recognition for their projects at prestigious venues including the Kunsthalle Oslo (2008), Documenta 12 (Kassel, Germany, 2007), the Venice Biennale (2007), Kiasma (Helsinski, 2004), InSITE (San Diego–Tijuana, 2000), and the São Paulo Biennale (1998).
ACCOMPANYING PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Artists’ Talk
Tuesday, May 12, 6:30 p.m.
Americas Society, 680 Park Ave., New York, NY
Speakers: Artists Mauricio Dias and Walter Riedweg with Curator Gabriela Rangel
The artists will discuss their practice and projects.
Featuring Moving Truck, an outdoor video projection with images of Throw (2004) that will link the urban space of New York and the current political landscape in the U.S. with Dias & Riedweg’s exhibition at the Americas Society’s art gallery.
RSVP required. Please e-mail culture@americas-society.org. Members-only reception to follow.
Panel Discussion: Optical Drama and Residual Modernities
Tuesday, May 19, 6:30 p.m.
Americas Society, 680 Park Ave., New York, NY
Speakers: Artists Mauricio Dias and Walter Riedweg; Beatriz Jaguaribe, Associate Professor, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; John Hanhardt, Consulting Senior Curator for Film and Media Arts, Smithsonian American Art Museum; and Curator Gabriela Rangel. Moderated by Heike Arzápalo, independent critic and filmmaker.
Participants will discuss the role of the moving image in deconstructing discourses of modernity.
RSVP required. Please email culture@americas-society.org. Members-only reception to follow.
Street Action: Moving Truck
Tuesday, June 9, 6:00 p.m.
El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Ave. (between 105th and 106th Streets), New York, NY
As part of the Museum Mile Festival, a special street project will take place outside El Museo del Barrio. In a truck parked outside the museum, there will be a simultaneous video exchange between passersby and the artists Mauricio Dias and Walter Riedweg, featuring the artists’ footage of the Botafogo community in Rio de Janeiro.
Americas Society gratefully acknowledges the following donors for their generous support of the exhibition Dias & Riedweg…and it becomes something else, and the accompanying public programs: Rockefeller Brothers Fund; Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council; Consulate General of Brazil in New York; and Consulate General of Switzerland in New York. These programs are also made possible in part with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
All of our culture programs are free and open to the public. We are located at 680 Park Avenue at 68th Street in New York City. To arrive by public transportation, take the 6 train to 68th Street / Hunter College. For wheelchair access, kindly call in advance. Americas Society members enjoy advance priority reservations and priority seating at our culture programs. To reserve your place at our culture events this season, please call the exclusive members-only reservation line at 212.277.8333, or e-mail membersres@americas-society.org.
