“Beyond the Supersquare,” 2014-15
Curator: Holly Block (lives and works in New York City, USA); María Inés Rodríguez (born 1968 in Colombia; lives and works in Bordeaux, France). Description: “‘Beyond the Supersquare’ explores the indelible influence of Latin American and Caribbean modernist architecture on contemporary art. The exhibition features over 30 artists and more than 60 artworks, including photography, video, […]
Terence Gower, Manifiesto, 2015
Artist: Terence Gower (born 1965 in British Columbia, Canada; lives and works in New York City, USA). Description: “Manifiesto juxtaposes music and architecture, two forms of expression that employ rhythm, harmony, proportion, and dynamics. Mathias Goeritz, in his 1952 Manifiesto de la arquitectura emocional and in his manifesto’s built form, El Eco, added emotion to this list […]
“The Air is Blue,” 2002
Curator: Hans-Ulrich Obrist (born 1968 in Zurich, Switzerland; lives and works in London, England). Description: An exhibition curated by Hans-Ulrich Obrist at the Casa Museo Luis Barragán in Mexico City, which ran for three years and included forty-seven artists and contributors by the exhibition’s end. “When I visited Mexico City for the first time, Pedro Reyes […]
Alexander Apóstol, Polished Resident, 2001
Artist: Alexander Apóstol (born 1969 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela; lives and works in Caracas, Venezuela and Madrid, Spain). Materials: 7 digital photographs; 200 x 150 cm each. Description: “Residente pulido (Polished Residents) [consists] of buildings that were built by Europeans during the [years] of modernity (1930-1960) in Caracas. By deleting all access to the buildings, architecture seems to […]
Pedro Reyes, Parque Sinusoidal, 2001
Artist: Pedro Reyes (born 1972 in Mexico City, Mexico; lives and works in Mexico City). Description: “This series of sculptures started as a homage to the great structural engineer Eladio Dieste. They are studies for future buildings to be made in ceramic blocks.” —”Parque Sinosoidal,” website of Pedro Reyes.
Sean Snyder, “Brasilia” series, 2000
Artist: Sean Snyder (born 1972 in Virginia Beach, USA; lives and works in Berlin, Germany). Description: A series of color photographs depicting the city of Brasilía as a sort of contemporary ruin. “Determining the limits of what is feasible, the city Brasilia [sic] was built in the middle of the jungle. Sean Snyder’s color photographs, […]
Damián Ortega, Tortillas Construction Module, 1998
Artist: Damián Ortega (born 1967 in Mexico City, Mexico; lives and works in Mexico City and Berlin, Germany). Materials: Corn tortillas; dimensions variable. Description: “An ad hoc quasi-modernist sculpture, Tortillas Construction Module is made from corn, the archetypal Mesoamerican staple. In a move that reflects his fascination with the ways in which things are constructed, Damián Ortega […]
Matthias Müller, Vacancy, 1998
Artist: Matthias Müller (born 1961 in Bielefeld, Germany; lives and works in Bielefeld and Cologne, Germany). Materials: Film, shown as video, projection, or monitor, color and, sound; 13 min 52 sec. Description: “Brasília, the ‘city of hope,’ ‘the ultimate utopia of the 20th century’ (Umberto Eco), is being conserved as a cultural heritage today. It is […]
Pedro Reyes, La Torre de los Vientos, 1997-2004
Artist: Pedro Reyes (born 1972 in Mexico City, Mexico; lives and works in Mexico City). Description: Reyes squatted inside La Torre de los Vientos, a 1968 sculpture by Gonzalo Fonseca, and used it as a studio and exhibition space for five years. Over 30 projects, events, and exhibitions took place while he was there. “La Torre […]
Kcho, To the Eyes of History, 1992
Artist: Kcho [Alexis Leiva Machado] (born 1970 in Isla de Pinos, Cuba; lives and works in Havana, Cuba). Materials: Twigs, sticks, and twine. Description: Modeled after Tatlin’s unrealized Monument to the Third International (1919-20). Kcho’s tower, however, is topped with a used conical fabric coffee filter, recycling a failed monument into a quasi-functional item. Echo travelled outside Cuba […]
