Hybridity and Diaspora: Gego, Roberto Aizenberg, José Gurvich, Mira Schendel, and Lasar Segall
from 8 December 2005
Hybridity and Diaspora: Panel Discussion
Thursday, December 8, 6:30 8:30 PM
Americas Society
680 Park Avenue, New York
Salón Simón Bolívar
For more information or to reserve your seat, please contact 212.277.8362/ culture [at] americas-society.org
Gego installing the Reticularea environment at the Americas Society, formerly known as Center for Inter-American Relations, 1970
As part of the series Tradition and Transformation: Jewish Culture in Latin America and in conjunction with the current exhibition José Gurvich, Constructive Imagination a distinguished panel of curators and critics will offer an in-depth view of the cultural contributions of artists Roberto Aizenberg, Gego, José Gurvich, Mira Schendel, and Lasar Segall to the narratives of Argentinean, Brazilian and Venezuelan modernisms.
Speakers will include Alessandro Balteo (artist and critic), Fatima Bercht (Senior Curator, El Museo del Barrio) and Nicolás Guagnini (artist and critic). The discussion will be moderated by Natalia Indrimi (Curator for Special Projects, the Center for Jewish History), who will provide the context for the discussions.
This public event is organized in collaboration with the following: Center for Jewish History
El Museo del Barrio
Americas Society is a not-for-profit membership organization that promotes understanding about the political, economic, and cultural issues that define and challenge the Americas today. Events are free, open to the public, and wheelchair accessible.
Reservations are required. Americas Society members receive priority seating.
For more information or to reserve your seat, please contact 212.277.8362/ culture@americas-society.org
For information about other cultural programs, contact: 212.249.8950 or visit www.americas-society.org.
BIOGRAPHIES
Alessandro Balteo has participated in group exhibitions in Art in General, New York; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Barcelona, Spain; Museo de Arte de Lima, Peru; Museu de Arte Moderna de Rio de Janeiro, Brasil; Galeria de Arte Nacional and the Museo Alejandro Otero, Caracas.
Fatima Bercht curated landmark exhibitions at the Americas Society such as Faces of Eternity: Masks of the Pre-Columbian Americas (1991); Wilfredo Lam: A Retrospective of Works on Paper (1992); Contemporary Art from Chile (1991); and House of Miracles: Votive Sculpture from Northeastern Brazil (1989). She has also curated important shows at El Museo del Barrio such as O Fio da Trama/The Thread Unraveled: Contemporary Brazilian Art (2001), and more recently co-organized the successful MoMA at El Museo: Latin American and Caribbean Art from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art (2004). She contributed as an editor for the publication Latin American Artists of the Twentieth Century.
Nicolas Guagnini, a regular contributor for Time Out New York and Art Nexus magazines, has written on contemporary Latin American artists such as Meyer Vaisman, Alfredo Prior, Jose Gabriel Fernandez and Maria Fernanda Cardoso. In 1999, he was awarded with the Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant. He is a co-founder of the artist-run gallery Orchard and participates as a lecturer at the Jack Blanton Museums ongoing seminar on Latin American Art.
Natalia Indrimi is the curator of special programs at the Center for Jewish History in New York and the director of the American Branch of the Centro Primo Levi for Italian Jewish Studies. She has organized conferences on Bruno Schulz, Karl Kraus, Primo Levi, and Clarice Lispector. Previous to her current position, she curated L’Acquario di John Cage (Rome Opera House, 1990), exploring through music, visual and performing arts, the links between civil disobedience, anarchy, and artistic endeavor; Primitividero: Brazilian Popular Art and Literature on Social and Political Themes (Palazzo Ducale, Genoa 1996).
About the Exhibition José Gurvich, Constructive Imagination introduces New York audiences to the work of this major modernist artist. Born in Lithuania, Gurvich grew up in Uruguay and became a member of the Taller Torres Garcia, founded in Montevideo by the master of the avant-garde Joaquin Torres Garcia. His works fuse the constructivist idiom of the Taller, images from the kibbutz life, and references to the Diaspora. The exhibition presents over forty paintings, drawings and ceramics produced from 1959-1974. Selected by guest curator Cecilia de Torres. The exhibition continues through to February 28, 2006.
Sponsorship for the José Gurvich, Constructive Imagination exhibition and additional support for the Tradition and Transformation project is provided by:
Emily McCollum Brown Eduardo Elsztain Jim Feldman and Natalie Wexler Gustavo Miculitzki/GGM Developers The J.M Kaplan Fund The New York State Council for the Arts Anonymous The David Berg Foundation Citigroup Foundation Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat Pablo and Maria Cristina Henning The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation The Reed Foundation Charles and Mildred Schnurmacher Foundation
For Images and Media Inquiries:
Gemma Martin, 212-277-8384, gmartin@as-coa.org
