Permanent Seminar in Latin American Art

ESCALA (The Essex Collection of Art from Latin America) displays works from the collection in the exhibition Unravelling Threads at firstsite in Colchester (through June 17, 2012).

In the words of Valeria Paz Moscoso, ESCALA Guest Curator, Unravelling Threads explores issues related to textile production by the indigenous people of the Andean region of South America. ”While not all of the artworks in the exhibition stem directly from textiles or indigenous Andean heritage, they draw on a number of related ideas or threads.The works of León Ferrari, Felipe Ehrenberg and Warmi, for example, resonate with the role of textiles as texts and repositories of memory. Those of Aruma-Sandra De Berduccy, Oswaldo Viteri, Esteban Álvarez, César Paternosto and Alex Flemming share with contemporary indigenous textile practice the need to address the complexities of belonging to multiple cultural traditions.Taking up another strand of Andean textile production, the works of María Ezcurra, Fernando Marquespenteado and Anna Maria Maiolino use contemporary fabrics and techniques to challenge gender definitions.”

Notably, at the exhibition’s opening the Chilean-born artist Cecilia Vicuña performed Fiber of Pray/Fiber of Gold, exploring the relationship between word and thread.

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In Bogota, Colombia, at the Museo de Arte del Banco de la República we recommend La escuela peripatética: dibujo itinerante de América Latina curated by Tanya Barson, Curator of International Art at Tate Modern in London (through June 4, 2012), featuring the work of Brígida Baltar, Tony Cruz, Raimond Chaves + Gilda Mantilla, André Komatsu, Mateo López, Jorge Macchi, Nicolás París and Ishmael Randall Weeks.

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If you happen to be in Italy, Fondazione Fotografia in Modena showcases a promising Decimo Parallelo Nord, contemporary photography from India and South America, which includes the work by Samanta Batra Metha, Nikhil Chopra, Priyanka Dasgupta, Amar Kanwar, Fariba Salma Alam, Ketaki Sheth, Sudarshan Shetty, Dayanita Singh, Raghubir Singh, Vivan Sundaram (India), Claudia Andujar (Brazil), Adriana Bustos (Argentina), Luz Maria Bedoya (Peru), Matias Duville (Argentina), Laura Glusman (Argentina), Parco Pando (Peru), Ishmael Randall Weeks (Peru), Sara Ramo (Brazil), Rosângela Rennó (Brazil), Mauro Restiffe (Brazil), Sebastian Szyd (Argentina), and David Zink Yi (Peru).

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MOLAA (The Museum of Latin American Art) in Long Beach is featuring Argentine Esteban Lisa’s first U.S. solo exhibition, along with video works by Venezuelan Magdalena Fernández. You can read the review of both shows here. 

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Closer to home, mark your calendars for Latin Wave 7 at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. This year’s edition of Latin Wave: New Films from Latin America will take place April 26-29, 2012. Eight new films from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru will premiere at the museum. This year features three directors and one actress accompanying their films to Houston. And, Sunday’s screenings are free to students with valid ID.

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Finally, in Austin, on Friday, April 6, from 5.30 to 7 pm, Benson Latin American Collection will hold an opening reception and gallery talk with the artist Mery Godigna Collet for the exhibition El Dorado, which pairs contemporary prints with indigenous legends from Venezuela.