6 ½ Weeks

From October 18 to December 2, 2018, Museum Folkwang is showing Mexican-American artist ektor garcia’s first solo exhibition in Germany, as part of its “6 ½ Weeks” series. Many of the works being presented—some of which were produced on site—incorporate traditional, mostly Mexican artisanry techniques. garcia investigates how objects, materials and techniques influence cultural practices, as well as images of gender-specific and societal roles.

ektor garcia borders a verdigris-tinged copper plate with lace, he adorns an abstracted male figure made of dark iron with a fine copper thread, places a coiling greenish form on a crocheted cloth. In a continual process, garcia shapes leather, ceramic, yarn and copper, creating installational works full of palpable contradictions and contrasts. While on the one hand he submits to materials, explains garcia, he also tries to dominate them.

Impressions of domestic intimacy, sometimes also of naivety and kitsch, mingle in garcia’s work with references to sexuality and to queer leather subculture. garcia’s work is political in numerous respects, in that it incorporates traditional, simple materials and cultural techniques, whilst undercutting any sense of grandeur. Though his installations are always snapshots of his continually evolving body of work. His personal and universal worlds are produced literally through manual labour.

ektor garcia (born 1985 in Red Bluff, California) grew up in the USA and Mexico. In 2016, he completed a Master’s of Fine Arts at Columbia University in New York. Prior to that, he studied at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. His work has since been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in New York, San Francisco, Glasgow and Melbourne. garcia lives and works between Mexico City and New York.  

Upcoming at 6 ½ Weeks
Anastasia Mityukova. Iceworm Project
(December 13, 2018–January 27, 2019)

Information
With its short turn-around times and quick planning, the 6 ½ Weeks exhibition format aims to present art to the public in a straightforward and spontaneous manner. The exhibition space set aside for 6 ½ Weeks is located in the foyer of Museum Folkwang, and features the work of newly discovered artists or work relating to topical issues in six separate displays a year.

6 ½ Weeks is funded by the Sparda-Bank West foundation.

Public program
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Press contact
Anna Littmann, T +49 201 8845 160 / anna.littmann [​at​] museum-folkwang.essen.de