YES launches an open call for artists interested in developing artworks utilizing digital technology. 5 artists will be selected to produce an specific artwork, with the technical advisory of UXART, a group focused in the creation of ideas and strategies to be implemented through new digital media. Likewise, curatorial advisory will be provided by YES Contemporary. The artists will be selected by an independent jury formed by UXART members.
Learn more about the academy here
RSVP for the talk on March 12 here.
Image: Courtesy UXART.
THIS HAPPENED
YES + UXART ARTIST TALK
Image: YES + UXART Artist Talk.
On February 12, YES and UXART hosted a talk part of the 2021 YES ARtist Academy focused on digital art. The talk presented different possibilities of digital art and new media, as a starting point for the workshop that will be directed by the UXART team, to produce 5 digital art projects by Salvadoran artists.
YES Founder Mario Cader-Frech participated in an online talk about collecting, art and democracy, on Tuesday February 9, at 1 pm New York. The talk was hosted by Art-Focus Latinoamérica, in the context of the online exhibition “Democracy". Other panelists included Paula Builes, Director of Policroma Gallery, artist Avelino Sala and artist Ale Thornton.
A photograph by Maryland-based artist Muriel Hasbun is now part of the Whitney Museum collection. The work “¿Sólo una sombra/Only a Shadow?”, part of “Saints and Shadows” series, has been acquired by the institution. The work addresses migration and identity, from the artist perspective and own experience.
Read the article by La Prensa Gráfica about the acquisition here.
See more about Muriel Hasbun here.
Image: Muriel Hasbun, “¿Sólo una sombra?/ Only a Shadow?” (detail). Courtesy the artist.
ABIGAIL REYES AT LILIANA BLOCH GALLERY
Salvadoran artist Abigail Reyes is presenting her solo exhibition “Aquí se come carne” at Liliana Bloch Gallery, in Dallas, Tx. Reyes is presenting a series of works addressing the machismo culture in Latin America, and its relation with populism and authoritarianism. The exhibition will be available by appointment at the gallery from February 13 to March 13, 2021.
See more about the exhibition here.
See more about Abigail Reyes here.
Image: Abigail Reyes, "Quedé Curada", From the series Poesía Popular. Courtesy the artist.
KARLOS CÁRCAMO AT BRIC BROOKLYN
New York-based Salvadoran artist Karlos Cárcamo is part of the collective exhibition Latinx Abstract, presented at Bric Brooklyn. The show, curated by Elizabeth Ferrer, presents works of contemporary artists utilizing abstract languages, which escape the expected notions of “Latinx Art”. Other artists participating in the exhibition are Candida Alvarez, Maria Chávez, Alejandro Guzmán, Glendalys Medina, Freddy Rodríguez, Fanny Sanín, Mary Valverde, Vargas-Suarez Universal, and Sarah Zapata. The exhibition will be on view by appointment and at reduced capacity, from January 21 to May 2, 2021.
See more about the exhibition here.
See more about Karlos Cárcamo here.
Image: Karlos Cárcamo, “Kase Painting (P7)” Courtesy the artist.
MURIEL HASBUN’S WORK PUBLISHED
Works by Salvadoran artist Muriel Hasbun were included in two publications, “Latinx Photography in the United States” by Elizabeth Ferrer, which presents works by Latinx photographers focusing in everyday life and social struggles; and “Photography is Dead...Long Live Photography”, a catalog of the exhibition by Candela Gallery in Richmond.
See more about “Latinx Photography in the United States” here.
Image: Muriel Hasbun, "Only a Shadow". Courtesy the artist.
MURIEL HASBUN AT ROFA PROJECTS
Salvadoran artist Muriel Hasbun participated in a talk hosted by Rofa Projects, about Art and Migration. Hasbun was joined by Gabriela Rosso, director of Rofa Projects and La Morada, and Jeannette Noltenius, Director of Casa de la Cultura de El Salvador. The talk took place on February 20 via Facebook live, and it was part of the programming related to Hasbun’s exhibition at Rofa Projects, “Record: Cultural pulses”.
See more about the exhibition here.
Watch Hasbun’s talk here.
Image: Muriel Hasbun, “Todos los Santos (volcán de Izalco, amén)” (detail). Courtesy the artist.
BEATRIZ CORTEZ AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Beatriz Cortez is part of the collective exhibition “Seeds of resistance” at Michigan State University. Curated by Steven L. Bridges, the show presents works addressing the relation and dependence between humans and plants. Other participating artists are Antonio Ballester Moreno, Mel Chin, Dornith Doherty, Johannes Heldén, Dylan Miner, Santiago Montoya, Claire Pentecost, Vivien Sansour and the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library, Jackie Sumell, Shinji Turner-Yamamoto, Sam Van Aken. The exhibition is organized by the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, and will be on view from January 16 to July 18, 2021.
See more about the exhibition here.
Image: Beatriz Cortez, “Generosity II”. Courtesy the artist.
BEATRIZ CORTEZ RESIDENCY AT LUX ART INSTITUTE
Artist Beatriz Cortez is currently in a residency at Lux Art Institute. For this residency, she invited 5 artists to join her for the exhibition titled [Glyph]. The show presents works by Cortez in dialog with other pieces by Candice Lin, rafa esparza, Kang Seung Lee, Pavithra Prasad, and Christian Tedeschi. The exhibition references a Glyph utilized by many prehispanic cultures to evoke a large snake moving under the surface of the earth, whose movement was visible in the mountains. The exhibition is available outdoors, in a hill near the gallery. Additionally, the artist participated in a talk in Spanish transmitted via Zoom on the 18th of February, to talk about her work, career and her experience as a resident in Lux.
See more about the exhibition here.
Image: Beatriz Cortez, "Glacial Erratic" (detail). Courtesy the artist.
GUADALUPE MARAVILLA AND BEATRIZ CORTEZ FEATURED IN AN EXHIBITION ORGANIZED BY THE LATINX PROJECT
Beatriz Cortez and Guadalupe Maravilla are part of the online collective exhibition curated by Marissa Del Toro, “Cruising the Horizon”. The exhibition includes works that explore radical imagination through the body, queerness and identity. The show will be available from February 11 to May 14. See more of Guadalupe Maravilla here.
See more of Beatriz Cortez here.
See the exhibition here.
Image: Beatriz Cortez and Rafa Esparza, “Nomad 13” Courtesy the artists.
HERBERT DE PAZ AT SAL 60
Brasil-based Salvadoran artist Herbert de Paz is part of the online collective exhibition Sal60, which commemorates the 60 years since the Salgueirense Revolution from the 1960 “Quilombo dos Palmares” parade, which marked the history of carnival. The artist is presenting two paintings of traditional characters and costumes of the region.
See the exhibition here.
See more about Herbert de Paz here.
Image: Herbert de Paz. Courtesy the artist.
GUADALUPE MARAVILLA AT PPOW GALLERY
Artist Guadalupe Maravilla is presenting his solo exhibition “Seven Ancestral Stomachs” at PPOW Gallery in New York. The show includes paintings, large sculptures and murals that address the artist’s own history of migration and healing. The exhibition will be available from February 26 to March 27, 2021.
See more about the exhibition here.
See more of Guadalupe Maravilla here.
Image: Guadalupe Maravilla, Courtesy the artist and PPOW Gallery.
BEATRIZ CORTEZ TALK AT 18TH STREET ART INSTITUTE
Artist Beatriz Cortez participated in a talk with Kang Seung Lee and Andy Campbell at the 18th Street Art Institute on February 4. The talk titled “We will have been together” addressed ideas about speculative futures which are essential to the artists’ works in the exhibition “Becoming Atmosphere” by Beatriz Cortez and Kang Seung Lee.
See more about the talk here.
See more of Beatriz Cortez here.
Image: Beatriz Cortez, "Roots 1". Courtesy the artist.
COLLECTIVE EXHIBITION REACTIVATING VIDEOGRAPHIES BY ROYAL SPANISH ACADEMY IN ROME.
Salvadoran artists Melissa Guevara, Óscar Moisés Díaz, Gabriela Novoa and Manuel Flores are part of the collective online exhibition “Reactivating Videographies”, presented by the Royal Spanish Academy in Rome in collaboration with the Network of Cultural Centers of Spain. The exhibition presents works by over 70 artists from 17 countries in Europe and the Americas, and provides different perspectives on video art considering the artist’s own contexts. The project was curated by Estíbaliz Sádaba Murguía in collaboration with curators from each country, including Mauricio Esquivel and Mauricio Kabistan from El Salvador. The exhibition is currently on view online, and will be available on site in Rome in 2021. See the exhibition here.
Image: Gabriela Novoa and Manuel Flores, "Extraño" (detail). Courtesy of the artists.
EL SALVADOR NEWS
PATRICIA ORELLANA SOLARES SELECTED FOR FORMA Y SUSTANCIA PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL
Salvadoran artist Patricia Orellana Solares was one of the artists selected for the online performance festival Forma y Sustancia. Orellana Solares was selected in the video-performance category. The presentation dates will be announced soon. The festival is a platform for contemporary creative multidisciplinary projects, with a special focus in Central America, and it is organized by RACA (Central American Art Network).
See more about the festival here.
See more about Patricia Orellana Solares here.
Image: Patricia Orellana Solares. Courtesy the artist.
COLLECTIVE EXHIBITION ENAMORADOS DEL ARTE AT FORMA MUSEUM
The Forma Museum presents virtually "Enamorados del arte", in its twelfth annual exhibition. With the participation of 13 artists, under the theme Contemporaneity Challenged. Curated by Juan Santiago Martínez, the exhibited works attempt to propose a challenge to artistic contemporaryity, showing an art that is proud of its own tradition, evidenced in the color palette used, which has its origin in nature itself; in addition to the iconography that combines the mystical and the virtual.
Image: Renacho Melgar, "“Los tres Monos Sabios”, courtesy of the artist.
COLLECTIVE EXHIBITION REVISIÓN DE LO COTIDIANO 2021
The Arteria collective, made up of 20 artists, exhibits their work in the San Jacinto Exhibition Hall. The show was curated by the artist and director of the Hall, Augusto Crespín, opened on February 10 and will be available until April 16. Additionally, two talks will be heald at 10:00 am (UTC-6) for February 24 and March 24, respectively.
The exhibition presents a selection of paintings that, through the investigation of form and color, seek to capture the reality experienced during the year 2020 through the crisis caused by the pandemic.
Image: Leonel López, “32B”, 2018. Courtesy of the artist
COLLECTIVE EXHIBITION MUJERES ARTISTAS Y MUSAS
Salvadoran artists Natalia Domínguez, Katherine Cantón, Liza Alas, Nadia Rodríguez, Lucy Tomasino, Cony Roldán and San Canessa are participating in the exhibition "Women Artists and Muses" organized by the National Center of Arts (CENAR) at the National Institute of Health (INS) inaugurated on February 9, will be open to the public until March 23. The exhibition seeks to open artistic spaces for women as protagonists, creators, counteracting the idea of simple muses in the history of art.
See more about the exhibition here.
Image: Cony Roldan, “Reposo”, Courtesy of the artist.
PRESS
BEATRIZ CORTEZ FEATURED IN KPBS
KPBS published an article about Beatriz Cortez residency at Lux Art Institute, where the artist is presenting “Glacial Erratic”, a large sculpture along with works by 5 other artists. The article by Julia Dixon expands on themes relevant to the work and the exhibition.
Image: Beatriz Cortez, "Glacial Erratic". Courtesy the artist.
ALEXIA MIRANDA FEATURED IN INSTRUMENTS OF MEMORY
Salvadoran artist Alexia Miranda was featured in an interview published in Instruments of Memory. Miranda was interviewed by Claudia Pretelin, who visited El Salvador in 2020 as part of the research for LACE exhibition “Intergalacticxs: Against Isolation”. During the interview, Miranda talks about her practice and past projects.
Read the article here.
Image: Alexia Miranda, “Tejido Colectivo”. Courtesy the artist.
ALEX CUCHILLA FEATURED IN EL SALVADOR
Salvadoran artist Alex Cuchilla was featured in Diario El Salvador. The article written by Alejandra Gómez presents his life and work, the main influences and recognitions obtained during a 31-year career creating.
Read the full article here.
See more about Alex Cuchilla here.
Image: Alex Cuchilla. Courtesy of the artist.
GUADALUPE MARAVILLA INTERVIEWED AT BOMB MAGAZINE
Artist Guadalupe Maravilla spoke with artist Janine Antoni for BOMB magazine. In the interview, they talk about Maravillas practice and its relation to healing and his personal history of overcoming cancer.
Image: Guadalupe Maravilla, “Insect tortilla”. Painting on a dehydrated tortilla. Courtesy the artist.
MURIEL HASBUN FEATURED IN DISRRUPTIVA MAGAZINE
Salvadoran artist and photographer Muriel Hasbun was interviewed by Raúl Benítez for DISRUPTIVA. In the interview she talks about the evolution of her work and the recent acquisition of one of her works by the Whitney Museum in New York to become part of their permanent collection.
Read the full article here.
See more of Muriel Hasbun here.
Image technical sheet: Muriel Hasbún, “Just a shadow? (Lejzor) ” (detail), 1994. Courtesy of the artist.
MURIEL HASBÚN FEATURED IN ARTISHOCK
Salvadoran artist and photographer Muriel Hasbún appeared on Artishock. The article written by Gabriela Rosso talks about Pulse: New Cultural Registers where Hasbún fuses the seismographic records of El Salvador, with her own identity and family history during the 1980s and 1990s.
Read the full article here.
See more of Muriel Hasbún here.
Image: Muriel Hasbún, “Pulse: Pulsating Desire (Homage, Carlos Cañas)”, courtesy of RoFa Projects
BLOG
Small Acts of Resistance Against Erasure and Misrepresentation of Central Americans Stories in Canadian Museums.
By Armando Perla
Image: Royal Winnipeg Ballet dancers performing “Horizon” at the Winnipeg International Airport in 2017.
Addressing the erasure and misrepresentation of Central American and Salvadoran stories in Canada’s national museums is an ethical imperative, particularly in a time when institutions across the continent are grappling with a reckoning on institutional racism. Significant waves of Central American migration to Canada started to occur in the 1980s, through several waves of migration corresponding to civil wars and post wars/Gangs’ violence. In addition, the region also produces a steady flow of LGBTTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers as well as agricultural migrant workers.
Despite many challenges experienced by most Central American migrants to Canada, they have been able to establish themselves in the country and have contributed to shape its national identity. According to the 2016 census, Central Americans make up the largest population of Latin Americans in Canada (Salvadorans are largest group of Central Americans). However, with very scarce exceptions, Central American and Salvadoran stories and realities have not been collected and/or exhibited in Canada’s national museums.
Media representations of Central Americans and Salvadorans in Canada are framed only under narratives of “refugee crises”, gang violence, and victimhood. While this is certainly an undeniable reality of the Central American story, these narratives also need to be examined under a more nuanced and multi-layered perspective developed by or in collaboration with those who have experienced them. Failure to include the lived experience of those with firsthand knowledge in decision making processes has contributed to institutions furthering stereotypes and erasing Central American experiences.
Image: Dina Morales watching the virtual reality film for the exhibition “Weaving a Better Future” at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg, 2016.
As the only Salvadoran-Canadian curator at a national museum, I sometimes used performance –developed in collaboration with chorographer Philippe-Alexandre Jacques– to supplement the few Central American exhibitions I was able to curate at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights. These are some of the works that were developed and performed outside of the museum to resist the erasure and misrepresentation of Central American and Salvadoran stories.
Image: Royal Winnipeg Ballet Principal dancer Sophia Lee performing “Tejido” in Winnipeg in 2018.
1. Text Me, a piece about the sexual exploitation of children in Canada was inspired by the oral histories of the workers –including Salvadoran-Canadian Camila Jiménez– fighting to end these abuses. This work was presented as part of the 2015 Winnipeg Fringe Festival.
2. Una mejor vida –performed in Mexico and Sweden– speaks of the physical and emotional journeys of agricultural migrant workers, many of whom are Central American, who come to Canada every year to provide a better life for the families they leave behind.
3. Horizon, a choreography about the journey and arrival of asylum seekers and refugees in Canada toured across Canada as a 360-degree virtual reality film in celebration of the country’s 150th anniversary in 2017.
4. Tejido, developed as short film in 2018, is a story about loss and empowerment related to the Guatemalan genocide against Indigenous peoples in Guatemala and the creation of women weavers’ cooperatives.
Image: Royal Winnipeg Ballet dancers Sophia Lee and Yosuke Mino performing “Tejido” in Winnipeg in 2018.
Unfortunately, these small gestures are not enough, there is still a pressing need to address the absence of Central American and Salvadoran stories in collecting efforts, exhibitions and the programming of Canadian national museums. The continued erasure of our stories and our artistic expressions only serves to highlight that Canadian institutions see our contributions as inconsequential in the broader Canadian narrative.
