YES is proud to announce the 2018 arts writers jury, from left, Paola Ibarra, Tom Healy and Adriana Herrera. This independent jury lends us in-depth experience in a variety of writing fields spanning academic writing, poetry, publication writing as well as curating, within the contexts of Central America, Latin America and the United States.
The 2018 YES Arts Writers Grant, supported by Gabriela Poma and Susanne Meline, awards a writer $500and the chance to have their article published in Arte al Día International magazine. Deadline May 15, 2018.
____________
MEET OUR JURY
Paola Ibarra directs programmatic activities in Cambridge at DRCLAS. She oversees the Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Program, the Cuba Studies Program, and the ARTS@DRCLAS Program, as well as thematic initiatives such as the ongoing Interpreting Displacements and Migrations through the Arts and Sciences. Read more here.
Tom Healy is a writer, curator and activist. He is currently the director of the Brooklyn Conference on art and social change at the Brooklyn Museum and he leads a public conversation series on creativity at the Bass Museum in Miami Beach. He is the author of three books of poems, including What the Right Hand Knows—which was a finalist for the 2009 L.A. Times Book Prize—and two forthcoming books of essays. Read more here.
Adriana Herrera (Arte al Diá) earned her PhD with an interdisciplinary exploration of the relationship between art, literature and society in Latin America and Spain. As an independent writer, art critic and curator, cofounder of Aluna Art Foundation, and two decades of solid experience in writing essays for catalogs and art reviews, interviewing artists, creating curatorial projects for museums, foundations and galleries, she has an extensive knowledge of the Latin American art history and its current panorama. Read more here.
This April Daniel Soto Morúa and Mauricio Kabistan participated in the YES online studio visit program. Daniel is the Chief Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MADC) in Costa Rica and Mauricio is a professional artist living and working in El Salvador, and a founding member of The Fire Theory. See more of Mauricio's work here.
MEET DANIEL AND MAURICIO
Daniel Soto Morúa has been the Chief Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MADC) in Costa Rica since 2016. He is focused on developing new programs in design, visual arts and communications. Read more here.
Mauricio Kabistan (Nicaragua, 1980) lives and works in El Salvador and is a founder and member of the Fire Theory collective. He most recently participated in ICE curated by Omar López-Chahoud at Open Source Gallery in Brooklyn, New York...Read more here.
INTERNATIONAL
SIMÓN VEGA AT COACHELLA, INDIO CALIFORNIA, USA
Salvadoran artist Simón Vega has created Palm 3 World Station a large scale installation for The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
Based on the Soviet Cold War era MIR Space Station, the work explores the creation of utopic communities in modern day dystopia, as well as "Third World" dreams of escaping technology.
Hosted over two weekends, April 13-15 and 20-22, the festival brings audiences from around the globe to the Empire Polo Club in the Colorado Dessert for stellar musical line-ups including Beyoncé, The Weeknd, Eminem, and many more.
ORLANDO VILLATORO SOLO PROJECT AT THE MUSEUM OF ART AND DESIGN IN COSTA RICA
Salvadoran artist Orlando Villatoro opened Ciclo C, a solo exhibition at the Idea Tank Laboratory in the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design in San Josè, Costa Rica.
Curated by Daniel Soto Morùa, Ciclo C combines technology with the everyday by hacking security cameras operating in the real world and connecting them to devices in the gallery. The cameras operate in cities with high rates of homicides, social problems, insecurity and crime. The exhibition is on view until July 1, 2018.
GERARDO GOMEZ, AMBER ROSE AND GABRIELA NOVOA AT GALERIA EXTRA, GUATEMALA CITY
Salvadoran artists Gerardo Gomez, Amber Rose and Gabriela Novoa participate in Current Painting; Contemporary Visions a group exhibition featuring emerging young artists from Central America, including, Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica, who use painting as their means of expression. Gerardo and Gabriela are joined by artists Amber Rose, Yavheni de Leon, Jose Wolf, Camila Fernandez and Roberto Carter.
Already a supporter of contemporary art in El Salvador, Galerie Extra co-founder Renato Osoy joined YES this past April on an art trip to El Salvador to further explore the creative community in the country and meet new artists.
Images: (Top) Gerardo Gomez setting up canvases in Galerie Extra, (Below) Gabriela Novoa looking at her work in the gallery space in preparation for the exhibition.
ABIGAIL REYES, MAURICIO ESQUIVEL, WALTERIO IRAHETA AND SIMÓN VEGA AT LOKKUS GALLERY, MEDELLÍN, COLOMBIA
Abigail Reyes, Mauricio Esquivel, Walterio Iraheta and Simón Vega are featured in the group exhibition “Gabinete 13” (Cabinet 13). Curated by Erika Martínez Cuervo, a 2017 YES Art Trip visitor, the exhibition features multi-media work by thirteen artists represented by Lokkus Arte Contemporáneo Gallery. Cabinet 13 is on view at the gallery until May 5, 2018.
Image: Abigail Reyes "Quedé Curada" as part of the exhibition Cabinet 13. Image courtesy Erika Martínez Cuervo.
MAURICIO ESQUIVEL, WALTERIO IRAHETA AND RONALD MORÁN PARTICIPATE IN PARC ART FAIR AND ART LIMA IN PERU
Salvadoran artist Mauricio Esquivel was featured in the Rofa Projects booth at the satellite PARC art fair, and Walterio Iraheta and Ronald Morán at Art Lima. Iraheta,represented by Lokkus Arte Contemporáneo Gallery, was included in the solo project section of the 2018 International Art Lima art fair, curated by Oscar Roldán Alzate. Morán repesented by Veinti4siete Gallery exhibited his latest work in this 6th edition of the fair. On view from April 19-22, Art Lima featured 81 exhibitors.
Image courtesy Walterio Iraheta and Lokkus Arte Contemporáneo Gallery.
EL SALVADOR
YOUR NAME IS A LABYRINTH CONTEMPORARY ART FROM EL SALVADOR BOOK LAUNCH
This limited edition publication titled Your name is a labyrinth: Contemporay Artists from El Salvador offers a comprehensive survey of Salvadoran contemporary artists working in the country and abroad. Initiated by Manuel Urbina, a 2018 YES Art Trip guest, Salvadoran artists Mauricio Esquivel and Rolando Chicas, the book launched at the Museum of Art of El Salvador on April 6, 2018.
YES MEET THE ARTIST By Patricio Majano
Melissa Guevara
In her work Salvadoran artist Melissa Guevara addresses human nature from both a metaphysical and existentialist point of view. She conceives a human being as a union of mind and body. Her work examines this dual nature of being, between the material and the intangible.
In her artwork “I am still Alive”, Guevara appropriates a phrase from renowned artist On Kawara tattooing it on the back of her neck.
Her skin becomes an acknowledgment of her existence, yet is ironically a relatively ephemeral support for her body, therefore emphasizing the finite nature of life. It is important that only others can see the phrase, and that she recognizes her self-existence by interacting with others.
In the Relics series, Guevara positions the relic as an object of spiritual value. To create the work “Inflection point” she transforms human bone in to a relic by applying a “golden” process. These bones are acquired at street markets and informally and come from anonymous people. Through the process of making their bones significant and preciousness, these nameless individuals are able to transcend their remains.
Images: Melissa Guevara, “I am still alive” 2013/2015, tattoo and photographic register; and “Inflection point” 2014, from the series Relics. Golden cervical vertebrae"/"Vértebra cervical dorada.
Patricio Majano (1992) is a Salvadoran art professional, who graduated from the Art School at the University of El Salvador. His artwork focuses on the Salvadoran environment and society, and has been exhibited in El Salvador, USA, Guatemala and Spain. Currently he participates in the Forma Museum program for violence prevention.
Y.ES is an initiative of the Robert S. Wennett and Mario Cader-Frech Foundation
