Ian Dudley, guest curator of Southern Press: Prints from Brazil, Paraguay and Chile, will give a talk on the exhibition, the artists and artworks at firstsite in the University Space. Time: 2-3pm
About the exhibition
The selection, from the ESCALA Collection, focuses on the works of thirteen printmakers, including Oswaldo Goeldi, Lívio Abramo, Antonio Henrique Amaral, Olga Blinder, Nemesio Antúnez and other key practitioners from the 1950s, 60s and 70s.It showcases work from a period when printing enjoyed a prominent position in art education, as well as in national and international exhibition circuits, and when debates about the medium's artistic status, and the uptake of abstraction by printers, were hotly contested.
Image: Southern Press Curator Ian Dudley gives tour of the exhibition.
Firstsite, Colchester
18 March 2012
In an event related to the ESCALA exhibition Unravelling Threads, Chilean artist Vicuña's performance Fiber of Prayer / Fiber of Gold will explore the relationship between word and thread, while revisiting the artist’s exile in London after the military coup in Chile in 1973.
Time: 3-4pm
Free, but booking essential on 01206 577 067 or info@firstsite.uk.net
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Through artworks from the ESCALA Collection, 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, f. marquespenteado and Anna Maria Maiolino use contemporary fabrics and techniques to challenge gender definitions.
Valeria Paz Moscoso, ESCALA Guest Curator
Image: Cecilia Vicuña
21 March 2012
Valeria Paz Moscoso, guest curator of Unravelling Threads, will give a talk on the exhibition, the artists and artworks at firstsite in the University Space at firstsite.
Time: 2-3pm
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Through artworks from the ESCALA Collection, 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.
Valeria Paz Moscoso, ESCALA Guest Curator
25 April 2012
On Wednesday 25 April, two Cuban artists - Lesbia Vent DuMois and Eduardo Roca Salazar (Choco) will speak and show some short video clips at the University of Essex, Colchester Campus. Both artists are included in the exhibition Beyond the Frame, at Cork Street Gallery, London until 28 April.
Lesbia Vent DuMois and Eduardo Roca Salazar (Choco) are both long-standing artists with much experience of leading the fine arts in Cuba. They have both donated art works to the exhibition Beyond the Frame in support of the Miami Five. They will speak about the role of culture within the revolution in Cuba; the significance of the fine arts in particular; why so many Cuban and UK based artists have donated work to support the Miami Five as well as discussing artistic technique.
The exhibition is also being staged to raise awareness of the Miami Five, five Cubans unjustly imprisoned in the United States for 13 years. Loosely referencing the exhibition’s title, some Cuban artists have selected works that engage with the concept of a frame’s boundaries while others look beyond it, taking the ideals of the Five, who have never wavered in their beliefs, as a metaphor for the principles of Cuban society. Central to the exhibition will be artwork by two of the Five, Antonio Guerrero and Gerardo Hernández, both of whom have taken up art while in prison.
Location: 3.105 at the University of Essex, Colchester Campus.
Time: 12-2pm
This talk is organised jointly between the School of Philosophy and Art History, ESCALA and the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
Beyond the Frame: Contemporary Cuban Art is organised in collaboration with the National Council of Visual Arts, Havana and Cuba Solidarity Campaign, London.
Image: Eduardo Roca Salazar (Choco), Caribbean Dream, 2011
8 June 2012 - 9 June 2012
The Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA) is delighted to be involved again this year in Pinta, the Modern and Contemporary Latin American Art show, when it comes to London for the third time.
This year we have been invited again to participate in the Pinta Museums Acquisition Programme alongside the Centre Georges Pompidou, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA) and Tate Modern.
We are also working in association with England & Co. Gallery to organize a performance and talks to complement the gallery’s display of works and archival material relating to Latin American art in London and Europe in the 1960s and 1970s.
The performance, on Saturday 9 June, will be by aruma (Sandra De Berduccy), an emerging artist from Bolivia whose work we recently acquired for Unravelling Threads, our current exhibition at firstsite (until 17 June 2012). The performance has also been supported by the Bolivian Embassy in London.
England & Co. Gallery’s display will include contemporary works by aruma and historical works and documentary material on Cecilia Vicuña, Lygia Clark, Mira Schendel and U.S. artist John Dugger. Dugger’s original ‘Chile Vencerá’ banner, which was hung in Trafalgar Square in 1974, will be installed at Earl’s Court and he and aruma will both be ‘in conversation’ on Saturday 9 as part of a talks programme that begins on Friday 8.
PUBLIC PROGRAMME - FRIDAY 8 JUNE, 3:30 - 7PM
Curators and Artists forum
3.30-3.40pm
Introduction by Catherine Petitgas
3.40-4.40pm
Latin American exhibitions in the UK
Chaired by Kiki Mazuchelli
with Iria Candela, Tate
Richard Parry, Hayward Gallery
Jamie Stevens, Chisenhale Gallery
Amy Sales, Glasgow Sculpture Studios
4.50- 5.50pm
Artist Projects at Pinta
Pablo León de la Barra in conversation with Art Projects 2012 visiting artists
6-7pm
Homage to Matilde Pérez
Conversation with Matilde Perez and Ramón Castillo, curator of her exhibition at Open Cube and Presented by Cecilia Brunson. Please note that there are limited spaces available.
PUBLIC PROGRAMME - SATURDAY 9 JUNE, 3:30-7PM
Collections forum
3.30-4.00pm
aruma performance, auditorium
4.00-4.10pm
Artists in conversation: textile and text introduced by Joanne Harwood, Director, ESCALA
4.10 – 5.00pm
aruma in conversation with Valeria Paz and Rebecca Breen
5.00 – 5.50pm
John Dugger in conversation with Joanne Harwood and Jane England
6-7pm
Contemporary Art Society with Miriam Metliss
Private and public collections and the market for Latin American Art
Image: Aruma - Sandra De Berduccy
18 July 2012
Join ESCALA Director and Curator Dr Joanne Harwood as she discusses the ideas and artworks in Suspicious Story.
Time: 2-3pm in the University Space
Free, but booking essential through firstsite 01206 577067.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
ESCALA’s latest exhibition, Siron Franco: Suspicious Story, showcases some of the work of one of Brazil’s foremost artists, Siron Franco (b.1947, Goiás Velho).
The title of this exhibition takes its name from one of the paintings from the Collection: A Suspicious Story (História mal contada), 1991.
This piece, along with others in ESCALA, makes reference to ‘the sometimes tragic stories of Brazil’s dispossessed inhabitants: among them the indigenous, the landless and the urban poor.’ Other works in this exhibition are Ontem (Yesterday), 1990-1993, Cásulo (Cocoon), 2000 and Radiografía brasileira (Brazilian X-ray), 1998. A video produced by Franco for Professor Ades, the Collection's founding director, also forms part of this exhibition. ESCALA Founding Director Profesor Ades wrote the 1995 book Siron Franco: Figures and Likeness, Paintings from 1968 to 1995, the first detailed study in English on the artist. This video titled Carta (Letter) shows Franco in his workshop. Through this video, viewers are given a unique insight into some of the processes the artist uses in creating his work; Franco is seen making a cocoon, similar to the one seen in Siron Franco: Suspicious Story.
Franco’s work holds an important place in ESCALA. His work Memória (Memory), 1990-1992, also included in the exhibition, was the Collection’s first acquisition, donated by Essex graduate Charles Cosac in 1993. This painting marked the beginning of the Collection. ESCALA now contains over 750 artworks. The pieces included in this exhibition, form part of the largest public collection of Siron Franco’s work in Europe.
Image: Dr Joanne Harwood giving a tour of the exhibition
28 July 2012
A hands-on workshop for all of the family linked to our Siron Franco exhibition. Explore abstract styles and investigate art and the environment. Come along and get painting!
Time: 11am - 1pm and 2 - 5pm, Learning Space B
Free, just drop in.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
ESCALA’s latest exhibition, Siron Franco: Suspicious Story, showcases some of the work of one of Brazil’s foremost artists, Siron Franco (b.1947, Goiás Velho).
The title of this exhibition takes its name from one of the paintings from the Collection: A Suspicious Story (História mal contada), 1991. This piece, along with others in ESCALA, makes reference to ‘the sometimes tragic stories of Brazil’s dispossessed inhabitants: among them the indigenous, the landless and the urban poor.’ Other works in this exhibition are Ontem (Yesterday), 1990-1993, Cásulo (Cocoon), 2000 and Radiografía brasileira (Brazilian X-ray), 1998.
A video produced by Franco for Professor Ades, the Collection's founding director, also forms part of this exhibition. ESCALA Founding Director Profesor Ades wrote the 1995 book Siron Franco: Figures and Likeness, Paintings from 1968 to 1995, the first detailed study in English on the artist. This video titled Carta (Letter) shows Franco in his workshop. Through this video, viewers are given a unique insight into some of the processes the artist uses in creating his work; Franco is seen making a cocoon, similar to the one seen in Siron Franco: Suspicious Story.
Franco’s work holds an important place in ESCALA. His work Memória (Memory), 1990-1992, also included in the exhibition, was the Collection’s first acquisition, donated by Essex graduate Charles Cosac in 1993. This painting marked the beginning of the Collection. ESCALA now contains over 750 artworks. The pieces included in this exhibition, form part of the largest public collection of Siron Franco’s work in Europe.
Image: Siron Franco family workshop
18 August 2012
A creative session inspired by our Siron Franco exhibition. Drop in and help us make some giant 3D cocoons!
Time: 11am - 1pm and 2 - 5pm, Learning Space B
Free, just drop in.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
ESCALA’s latest exhibition, Siron Franco: Suspicious Story, showcases some of the work of one of Brazil’s foremost artists, Siron Franco (b.1947, Goiás Velho).
The title of this exhibition takes its name from one of the paintings from the Collection: A Suspicious Story (História mal contada), 1991. This piece, along with others in ESCALA, makes reference to ‘the sometimes tragic stories of Brazil’s dispossessed inhabitants: among them the indigenous, the landless and the urban poor.’
Other works in this exhibition are Ontem (Yesterday), 1990-1993, Cásulo (Cocoon), 2000 and Radiografía brasileira (Brazilian X-ray), 1998. A video produced by Franco for Professor Ades, the Collection's founding director, also forms part of this exhibition. ESCALA Founding Director Profesor Ades wrote the 1995 book Siron Franco: Figures and Likeness, Paintings from 1968 to 1995, the first detailed study in English on the artist. This video titled Carta (Letter) shows Franco in his workshop. Through this video, viewers are given a unique insight into some of the processes the artist uses in creating his work; Franco is seen making a cocoon, similar to the one seen in Siron Franco: Suspicious Story.
Franco’s work holds an important place in ESCALA. His work Memória (Memory), 1990-1992, also included in the exhibition, was the Collection’s first acquisition, donated by Essex graduate Charles Cosac in 1993. This painting marked the beginning of the Collection. ESCALA now contains over 750 artworks. The pieces included in this exhibition, form part of the largest public collection of Siron Franco’s work in Europe.
Image: Siron Franco making Cocoon, 2000
18 October 2012 - 19 October 2012
María Elena Ramos is a widely published critic and commentator on the fine arts, photography, architecture and urban spaces. She has been vocal in her opposition to State control of the cultural sector in Venezuela and is also the respected former director of the Fundación Museo de Bellas Artes Caracas (1989-2001).
She will be giving two talks at the University of Essex, Colchester Campus:
Thursday 18 October
5-7pm in the seminar room of the Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall
Soto, Otero, Gego: Tres maestros de la abstracción en Venezuela
(Soto, Otero, Gego: Three Masters of Abstraction in Venezuela)
Friday 19 October
10am-12pm in room 6.333
¿Qué puede hacer el arte por las ciudades latinoamericanas?
(What can art do for Latin American cities?)
All Welcome. The talks will be given in Spanish with English translations.
The talks have been organised by School of Philosophy and Art History, Essex Collection of Art from Latin America, and the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Essex, with support from the Institute for Studies on Latin American Art.
Image: Gego, Reticulárea, undated. Image courtesy of María Elena Ramo
Firstsite, Colchester
10 November 2012 - 10 March 2013
The exhibition focuses on the work of David Pérez Karmadavis, a Guatemala-based artist who was born in the Dominican Republic in 1976. Karmadavis is a talented painter and illustrator who is perhaps best-known for his performance and video work, including Estructura completa (Complete Structure), which was shown at the Venice Biennale in 2011.
This video, like many of Karmadavis’s works, focuses on the deep tensions, collaborative linkages and contradictory dynamics characterising the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic before and after the 2010 earthquake. After moving to Guatemala City in 2006 Karmadavis has also explored the human impact of Guatemala’s civil war (1960-1996) and the challenges of the country’s ongoing process of political, legal and cultural transition. Identificación (Identification), which raises awareness of continued killings in Guatemala City and the need for justice.
Karmadavis: Art, Justice, Transition has been guest curated by Dr Sanja Bahun in her capacity as Co-convenor of the Essex Transitional Justice Network (ETJN) and Professor Maria Cristina Fumagalli, both from the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies (LiFTS). Professor Fumagalli, is preparing a book on the literary and cultural history of the border between the Haiti and Dominican Republic funded by the Arts and Humanties Research Council and a Leverhulme Research Fellowship. Dr Bahun is a Senior Lecturer with expertise in international modernism. She is coordinating research activities in the Arts and Transitional Justice section.
Accompanying the exhibition is a series of ‘art in context’ sessions led by students from the School of Law, the Human Rights Centre, and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in the Humanities which will run daily from 2-3pm from 19-30 November and 25 February-8 March. The students will be located in the University Space to contextualize the artworks and engage with visitors. David Pérez Karmadavis will be ESCALA’s artist-in-residence in February/March 2013 to coincide with an international symposium focused on issues of justice, transition and migration and the ways in which art can intervene in social and political developments.
Image: David Pérez Karmadavis, La Manada, 2009
19 November 2012 - 30 November 2012
Accompanying the exhibition is a series of ‘art in context’ sessions led by students to engage with visitors.
The students hail from the School of Law, the Human Rights Centre, and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in the Humanities which will run daily from 2-3pm from 19-30 November and 25 February-8 March. The students will be located in the University Space to contextualize the artworks and engage with visitors. David Pérez Karmadavis will be ESCALA’s artist-in-residence in February/March 2013 to coincide with an international symposium focused on issues of justice, transition and migration and the ways in which art can intervene in social and political developments.
Image: David Pérez Karmadavis, Estructura Completa, 2010
28 November 2012
Martiza Urrutia is a human rights activist and one of the ‘disappeared’ (imprisoned and tortured) by the military government during the civil war in Guatemala, 1960-1996.
Maritza’s disappearance is the subject of Dan Saxon’s book To Save Her Life: Disappearance, Deliverance, and the United States in Guatemala, and hers is one of the most significant international crime court cases brought against the Guatemalan military dictatorship.
The talk will take place at firstsite, Colchester, UK, in the auditorium.
3pm – the public talk by Maritza Urrutia.
4pm – screening of Granito: How To Nail a Dictator (dir. Pamela Yates, 2011)
5.30pm – 6.30pm - round table discussion
All events are open to public and free of charge but booking is recommended through firstsite on 01206 577067. All the events will take place in the firstsite auditorium.
These events are related to ESCALA’s next exhibition in the University Space Karmadavis: Art, Transition, Justice, featuring the work of Guatemala-based, Dominican Republic-born artist David Pérez Karmadavis. The exhibition has been curated by Dr Sanja Bahun and Professor Maria Cristina Fumagalli from the University of Essex and is a collaboration between ESCALA, Essex Transitional Justice Network (of which Dr Bahun is Co-convener) and the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies.
12 December 2012
Join ESCALA Director and Curator Dr Joanne Harwood as she discusses the ideas and artworks in Karmadavis: Art, Justice, Transition.
Time: 2-3pm in the University Space
Free, but booking essential through firstsite 01206 577067.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
The exhibition focuses on the work of David Pérez Karmadavis, a Guatemala-based artist who was born in the Dominican Republic in 1976. Karmadavis is a talented painter and illustrator who is perhaps best-known for his performance and video work, including Estructura completa(Complete Structure), which was shown at the Venice Biennale in 2011.
This video, like many of Karmadavis’s works, focuses on the deep tensions, collaborative linkages and contradictory dynamics characterising the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic before and after the 2010 earthquake. After moving to Guatemala City in 2006 Karmadavis has also explored the human impact of Guatemala’s civil war (1960-1996) and the challenges of the country’s ongoing process of political, legal and cultural transition. Identificación (Identification), which raises awareness of continued killings in Guatemala City and the need for justice.
Karmadavis: Art, Justice, Transition has been guest curated by Dr Sanja Bahun in her capacity as Co-convenor of the Essex Transitional Justice Network (ETJN) and Professor Maria Cristina Fumagalli, both from the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies (LiFTS). Professor Fumagalli, is preparing a book on the literary and cultural history of the border between the Haiti and Dominican Republic funded by the Arts and Humanties Research Council and a Leverhulme Research Fellowship. Dr Bahun is a Senior Lecturer with expertise in international modernism. She is coordinating research activities in the Arts and Transitional Justice section.
18 February 2012 - 17 June 2012
Through artworks from the ESCALA Collection, 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.
Valeria Paz Moscoso, ESCALA Guest Curator
Image: Esteban Álvarez, Poncho, 2000
17 March 2012
Hands-on workshop for all the family linked to ESCALA's exhibition Unravelling Threads.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Through artworks from the ESCALA Collection, Unravelling Threadsexplores 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, f. marquespenteado and Anna Maria Maiolino use contemporary fabrics and techniques to challenge gender definitions.
Valeria Paz Moscoso, ESCALA Guest Curator
Image: Workshop at firstsite
23 June 2012 - 4 November 2012
ESCALA’s latest exhibition, Siron Franco: Suspicious Story, showcases some of the work of one of Brazil’s foremost artists, Siron Franco (b.1947, Goiás Velho).
The title of this exhibition takes its name from one of the paintings from the Collection: Suspicious Story (História mal contada), 1991. This piece, along with others in ESCALA, makes reference to ‘the sometimes tragic stories of Brazil’s dispossessed inhabitants: among them the indigenous, the landless and the urban poor.’ Other works in this exhibition are Ontem (Yesterday), 1990-1993, Casulo (Cocoon), 2000 and Radiografía brasileira (Brazilian X-ray), 1998. A video produced by Franco for Professor Ades, the Collection's founding director, also forms part of this exhibition. ESCALA Founding Director Profesor Ades wrote the 1995 book Siron Franco: Figures and Likeness, Paintings from 1968 to 1995, the first detailed study in English on the artist. This video titled Carta (Letter) shows Franco in his workshop. Through this video, viewers are given a unique insight into some of the processes the artist uses in creating his work; Franco is seen making a cocoon, similar to the one seen in Siron Franco: A Suspicious Story.
Franco’s work holds an important place in ESCALA. His work Mémoria (Memory), 1990-1992, also included in the exhibition, was the Collection’s first acquisition, donated by Essex graduate Charles Cosac in 1993. This painting marked the beginning of the Collection. ESCALA now contains over 750 artworks. The pieces included in this exhibition, form part of the largest public collection of Siron Franco’s work in Europe.
Image: Siron Franco, Memoria, 1990-1992