Metrópolis dedica un programa a la XI Bienal de Lanzarote que, bajo el comisariado de Adonay Bermúdez, ha sido concebida por y para la ciudadanía. Una apuesta por la democratización del arte que defiende la cultura como bien inmaterial, un catalizador social capaz de entablar relaciones, conservar y estudiar nuestra herencia común, registrar los acontecimientos socioculturales y educar a nuestra sociedad. Un encuentro con el arte y la arquitectura que nos invita a pensar el museo como un espacio para el diálogo y la reflexión.
Featured Artists: Hayfer Brea, Rigoberto Camacho, Teresa Correa, Joey Fauerso, Megan Harrison, Gil Rocha, Avelino Sala
Curatorial Statement by Adonay Bermúdez
I like to think that the world is made of stones.
By beginning this curatorial text with the words of Richard Long, we inevitably point to the main characteristics of this exhibition. Through this British artist, we are immersed in idyllic, petrous settings where silence and simplicity overwhelm us with their presence, savoring stone’s solidity, immutability and, especially, its primitive character. A tree is born, grows, then dies; waters flow and will never be the same—in this nod to Heraclitus—and sand, wanderlust in essence, is shifted by the winds; yet stone remains, witness to all that takes place around it.
Far from being a mere transcription of observed reality, When the Stones Speak presents new readings of landscape, whether natural or urban, beginning with a fundamental element: stone. It involves a journey to essence itself, without transformation or modification, to stone completely dispossessed of any artifice that might blur its presence. This exhibition no doubt speaks to us of the indissoluble relationship between individual and territory—in the broadest acceptance of the term—while also addressing processes of human transformation, migratory flux and history.
When the Stones Speak addresses the construction/destruction binomial, along with concepts of time and space. Through installation practice, video performance, painting, collage and sculpture, When the Stones Speak captivates us with an amalgam of artistic proposals that seek to raise citizen awareness, helping us understand how the power to rethink the model of the territory we wish to inhabit is in our hands. Through the polyhedric nature of stone, a series of artists proclaims that another world is possible, one that is kinder and fairer, more inclusive and more feminist.
Ethan Cohen Gallery at the KuBe Art Center are pleased to present a summer group exhibition, A Fine Line: Graffiti and the Power of Dissent, curated by Joseph Ayers and Ethan Cohen. The exhibition presents artists who use the power of line and gesture in their work to convey messages of subversion. How does the hand guide lines of dissent in contemporary art, and in what ways do artists use their personal language and experience to speak out against conventions and injustice?
A Fine Line: Graffiti and the Power of Dissent, mixes together local Hudson Valley artists, along with acclaimed international artists, who answer these questions from both personal and political perspectives. Ranging from representational portraiture and figurative work, to non-objective abstraction, graffiti tagging and more, A Fine Line explores those gestures that question the established structures and conventional boundaries that define our lives.
Featured Artists: Franc Palaia, Diane Green, Mike Long, Rachael Sage, Joe Radoccia, Paul Pisoni, Brian Buono, Ori Alon-Ray, Brian Walters, Harvey Weiss, Stephen Mallon, Johan Wahlstrom, Jennifer Sarah Blakeslee, Deb Lucke, Ann Provan, David Provan, Alejandro Avakian, Aboudia, Juliannah Francina, Pan Xing Lei, Rafael Fuchs, Qin Feng, Cordy Ryman, Shinoda, Corole Kunstadt, Liu Tian Wei, Jon Tsoi, Adam Lister, Gabriel Hurrier, CC Wang, Jeffrey Spencer Hargrave, Lacey Fekishazy, Li Daiyun, Michael Zelehoski, Jason Durham, Jeannie Motherwell, Mina Cheon, Greg Slick, Lara Birgit Kamhi, Ushio Shinohara, Bailey Bob Bailey, Garbriel Shuldiner, Zhang Hongtu, Ben Birillo, Paul Paiement, Lan Zhenghui, Karlos Carcamo, Edwin Schlossberg, Akito Nara, Jeannie Weissglass, Armand Boua, Mile Saula, Kenneth Millington, Yigal Ozeri, Ali Kazim, Claudia Coca, Xu Bing, Huang Yan, Michael Hu, Han Zeng, Hui Chen, Jan Dolan, Marylin Mitchel, Avelino Sala, Donna Mikkelsen, Jeff White, Naoto Nakagawa, Aya Uekawa, James Case Leal, Liu Wei, Basmat Levin, Innocent Nkurunziza, Elizabeth Castagna, Emil Alzamora, Sunil Karg
Proyecto subvencionado por la Fundación Municipal de Cultura, Educación y Universidad Popular del Ayuntamiento de Gijón/Xixón.
En estos tiempos de fake news y post-verdad, la ideologización de los discursos y las representaciones artísticas en Occidente han llegado al límite de la promiscuidad que el banquete neoliberal le (nos) permite como ilusión. En esa trampa vivimos, en esa coyuntura perenne, en bucle, cíclica, cuestionando constantemente cuáles son los bordes por lo que podemos desplazarnos para hacer que nuestro trabajo tome sentido, y cumpla sus pretensiones…
Proyecto subvencionado por la Fundación Municipal de Cultura, Educación y Universidad Popular del Ayuntamiento de Gijón/Xixón.
Opens November 10th, 6-8PM WhiteBox Annex @ ChaShaMa Space for Artists 1791 Lexington Avenue Curated by Raul Zamudio and Juan Puntes Organized with Kyoko Sato
Monsanto, Naturalezas Muertas, Avelino Sala, 2020
Since the dawn of history, entheogens were thought as sacraments by shamans and ingesting them led to communing with deities, dead ancestors, and spirits. Today, medical research into the synthetic equivalent of hallucinogenic flora and fauna including powerful psychedelics such as LSD and MDMA, has produced possibilities in treating a myriad of psychological disorders through their low-level administration known as micro-dosing. At the same time, pain-relieving drugs used during surgery and in post-operation rehabilitation, have been abused creating large-scale addiction and fatal overdoses in the tens of thousands leading to lawsuits against the main producer of opioids: Purdue Pharma. On “October 21, 2020, it was reported that Purdue had reached a settlement potentially worth $8.3 billion, admitting that it “knowingly and intentionally conspired and agreed with others to aid and abet” doctors dispensing medication “without a legitimate medical purpose.”
Apart from Perdue’s intent of criminality, the “war on drugs” initiated by Richard Nixon in 1971 has been won, except drugs are the victors. In the wake of this, scholars have proposed decriminalization of all drugs that will lead to less crime and homelessness, overcrowding of hospitals and prisons, and underscore a humane approach to global drug addiction that has reached epidemic proportions. The legalization of marijuana for recreational use is the first stage in achieving this, and as evinced by certain countries of the European Union, drug decriminalization has led to positive social results in contrast to political conservatives who view that in doing so, would engender drug usage.
And then, of course, is the use of entheogens and drugs for aesthetic purposes in which many iconic works of art and literature were inspired by. With all these issues within its curatorial purview, Perfect Day: Drugs and Art is an international group exhibition of painting, sculpture, works-on-paper, photography, video, and performance that explores the social, cultural, and political contexts of drugs or mind-altering substances in human societies both historically and contemporaneously.
Participating Artists: Abdul Vas | Antonio Caro | Alvaro Verduzco | Arlene Rush | Avelino Sala | Bill Berry | Bradley Eros | Chin Chih Yang | Claudia Baez | Daniel Rosenbaum | Dirty Churches | Eduardo Gil | Ernesto Restrepo | Eteri Chkadua | Franck Saïssi | gua_s | Isolde Kille | Jaakko Heikkila | Jason Mena | Javier Téllez | Jeanette Doyle | Jelena Tomasevic | Jim Costanzo | Jorge Tacla | Julia Justo | Julia San Martin | Kiichiro Adachi | Lorin Roser | Loy Luo | Marni Kotak | Martin Durazo | Max Blagg | Miguel Rodriguez Sepulveda | Mona Saeed Kamal | Nina Kuo | Noel Hennelly | Oxana Kovalchuk | Pedro Sanchez III | Robert Boyd | Sasha Summer | Seonming Ahn | Susana Sulic | Tamiko Kawata | Tana Oshima | Teresa Serrano | Yann Leto | & Special Guests
Más de 400 obras de 250 artistas en una exposición que instala por primera vez las colecciones del CA2M ocupando todos sus espacios. Es una celebración de la idea de museo que estaba presente desde el decreto de su fundación. Un recorrido que comienza en las vanguardias históricas -con todos los artistas que acompañaron a Picasso en el Pabellón del 37- y continúa históricamente hasta el presente inmediato. Una exposición internacional, como lo son sus colecciones -la del CA2M y la de la Fundación ARCO. Pero una historia que se cuenta desde esta institución, desde las colecciones que conserva, en definitiva, desde Móstoles.
NEWS/AVELINOSALA 