THE DOUBTFUL STRAIT - ESTRECHO DUDOSO
An international visual arts event by TEOR/eTica
November 30th 2006-February 15th 2007
Curated by Tamara Díaz and Virginia Pérez-Ratton
San José, Costa Rica
First event: NOVEMBER 30TH, opening of two monographic shows dedicated to the memory of Margarita Azurdia (1931-1998,Guatemala) and Juan Downey (1940-1993 Chile)
www.estrechodudoso.com
estrechodudoso@gmail.com
Margarita Rita Rica Dinamita at the Calderon Guardia Historical Museum
Margarita Azurdia, also known as Margot Fanjul, started her artistic career in the 60`s in Guatemala, and all her work was a process of experimentation and rupture with conventions, and thus became a controversial figure in the 70`s and 80s in Guatemala. She received a mention for her paintings in the Sao Paulo biennale of 1969, and produced an important pictorial work inspired in the geometrical designs of the indigenous textiles of her country and also researched in more organic abstraction. In the early 70`s, she created a series of white marble sculptures with movable elements that required the participation of the public. Around 1974, Homage to Guatemala, a large group of sculptures in polychromed wood was exhibited a single time, in a field, work which integrated the popular myths of a synchretic culture and her own imagination. As a prolific writer, poet and performer, she has legated work linked to popular culture and language, to gender issues and to the energy of the earth. This exhibition seeks to recognize her work posthumously at an international level, through the selection and restoration of around 35 works, including sculpture, canvas, works on paper and artist books. This exhibition has been possible with the curatorial assistance of Rosina Cazali, and with the support of Milagro de Amor Society, Cementos Progreso and GASH International Transports.
Convivencias: Juan Downey at the Nacional Museum of Costa Rica
Juan Downey, Chilean visual artist, printmaker and one of the pioneers in video art. Living and working in New York since 1966, studied and taught at Pratt Institute until his untimely death in 1993. He was linked to the Perception group as well as with Radical Software, and was an exclusive artist of Leo Castelli Gallery. While working throughout his life with drawing, painting and graphics, he began exploring new technologies since the sixties and realized electronic sculptures in which photoelectric cells activated sound and light with the movements of the spectators. In 1968, the availability of the first video cameras marked an important change in his artistic career and he became one of the most original video creators worldwide, with a production oriented both towards the western culture and to the indigenous cultures of the Americas. For The Doubtful Strait, the exhibition at the National Museum will include 15 videos, prints, paintings and for the first time, drawings by Yanomami children produced during his sojourn in the Amazon region. The installation About Cages, shown at the Chilean Pavilion in the Venice Biennale of 2001, and recognized by the International Jury at that time, will be presented in the venue of TEOR/eTica.
Curators: Justo Pastor Mellado and Marylis Downey
This exhibition has been possible through the support of the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Juan Downey Foundation.
Other exhibitions, information to follow: December 1st Intangible Routes, Limits and News from the Filibuster at the Contemporary Art and Design Museum, Costa Rican Art Museum, Museum of Forms, Spaces and Sounds, La Reforma Penitentiary, TEOR/éTica
December 2nd Traffics at the Museums of the Central Bank, Central Park of San José and other public spaces
The Doubtful Strait has been possible through the generous support of HIVOS (The Netherlands), the Ford Foundation through its Regional office in Mexico City, COPA Airlines, and then Getty Foundation Los Angeles) for the catalogue publication, the SEACEX (Spain) and many other contributors.
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