A Low-Hanging Fruit
February 6–April 1, 2018
Artists: Yuji Agematsu, Kelly Akashi, Derya Akay, Nina Beier, Luis Miguel Bendaña, Meriem Bennani, Matthew Brannon, Donna Conlon & Jonathan Harker, Rodrigo Hernandez, Jef Geys, Allison Katz, Adriana Lara, Nancy Lupo, Nevine Mahmoud, Aliza Nisenbaum, Naufus Ramirez-Figueroa, Shimabuku, Peter Shire, Gabriel Sierra, Erika Verzutti, Maja Vukoje, Amelie von Wulffen
Curated by Andrew Berardini and Chris Sharp
Lulu is very proud to present the second edition of the Lulennial, entitled, A Low-Hanging Fruit. Co-curated by the Los Angeles-based writer and curator Andrew Berardini and Lulu co-founder, Chris Sharp, the second edition of the micro-perennial (biennial/triennial) exhibition takes fruit as its theme. Playing with the stereotypical prominence of this sweet botanical bounty within the context of Latin American art, not to mention its multifaceted importance within the history of art, the Lulennial consists of a compact selection of works which feature fruit, either quite literally or representations thereof. Fruit, fruit and more fruit.
After all the convoluted and controversial gravitas of the 2017 biennial/perennial exhibition season, what with the Whitney Biennial, Documenta, and Venice, we thought the circuit could use a little levity and comic relief. This levity, and relief, will be heightened by the fact that it will take place in what is one of the smallest spaces (a total of 21 square meters) in Mexico City. Yet despite the modesty of the space, this biennial, so to speak, is totally serious and committed in its intentions. Fruit, it contends, is no laughing matter. Or at least, not merely a laughing matter. The acme of polyvalence, the significations and implications of fruit, for all its apparent frivolity, spider out in many directions at once. Politically freighted, highly erotic, queer, vitamin charged, mouldering stuff of memento mori, deceptively simple, and delightfully absurd, as well as weird, just weird, fruit contains multitudes (of seeds—of meaning!).
While this modest meditation of such a vast subject inevitably comes up short, it nevertheless seeks to include a broad range of ethnically diverse artists of different ages and stages in their careers from all over the world. Because let’s face it folks, fruit is a subject that concerns us all. By the same token, the exhibition will feature a selection of classic, already extent works as well as at least a dozen new commissions made especially for the Lulennial. All of which is to say that A Low-Hanging Fruit has every intention of redeeming its lack of exhaustiveness through its avowed attempt to embody the complexity and dynamism of its subject matter. There will ideally be something (juicy) here for everyone.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully-illustrated, bilingual catalog featuring texts by the curators as well as Gabriela Jauregui published by Mousse Publishing.
Lulu is also proud to launch its second alternative art map of Mexico City. The theme of this map is food, specifically, puestos (food stands/street food) or taquerias. For this edition of the map, we have invited approximately 50 art professionals (artists, gallerists, curators, museum directors, critics and producers) to select their favorite puesto or taqueria in Mexico City. The map is meant to function both as a real, gastronomical resource as well as snap shot of the diversity of agents currently involved in the Mexican capital’s contemporary art scene.
