The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), New York presents ‘New Territories: Laboratories for Design, Craft and Art in Latin America’ to 6 April 2015.
This show at MAD museum is a survey of new artistic trends, traditional influences, and cross-disciplinary emerging practices. It is the first American museum group exhibition dedicated to contemporary Latin American art and design. “New Territories represents an important first for MAD, examining the dialogue between contemporary trends and artistic legacies in Latin American art and design today,” said Glenn Adamson, MAD’s Nanette L. Laitman Director.
Ciudad Frondosa, 2011-2012, Chiachio & Giannone, Hand embroidery; cotton, rayon, wool, Museum purchase with funds provided by Nanette L. Laitman, 2014, Argentina
The exhibition takes its name from a phrase coined by Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesce, referring to the state of making in today’s globalised society, where the boundaries between art, design, and craft have become increasingly blurred. The works reveal a commitment on the behalf of the artists to support and promote indigenous crafts to ensure the longevity of national skills within the contemporary art and design worlds.
Textil Fundido, 2013, María Eugenia Dávila & Eduardo Portillo, Bronze, Courtesy of the artists
Cancha, 2012 part of the series Fin de Silencio II, Carlos Garaicoa, Wool, mercurized cotton, trevira-cs, cotton, acrylic, Courtesy of Galeria Continua
The show is divided into five geographical regions, each accentuating a creative quality particular to that area, but it is obvious from the art and design on display here that textiles and weaving form an integral part of the artistic identity across the entire continent, as does a sustainable sensibility for resourceful recycling.
There are some pieces familiar to COVER – the Tea Hug rug by Guto Requena for Tai Ping adorns a wall beside Ariel Rojo – an ariel view of Mexico City at night in handtufted wool and silk from Foco Rojo, and the recycled PET lamp project by Alvaro Catalán de Ocón gets more well deserved attention.
Installation photo of ‘New Territories: Laboratories for Design, Craft and Art in Latin America’ 2014, Photo by Butcher Walsh © Museum of Arts and Design
The show introduces enthralling names that are new to us too; Rio de Janeiro based artist Maria Nepomuceno creates sculptural installations consisting of abstracted elements referencing traditional rope weaving and straw braiding of northeast Brazil. A hammock by Brazilian designer Rodrigo Almeida converts into a garment that functions conceptually as a “transcendental cocoon vestment”. There is hand loomed mud dyed clothing from the Casa Barragan collection by Carla Fernández in collaboration with Taller Flora and Pascuala Sánchez and a wonderful Encoded Textile by Guillermo Bert (woven by Anita Paillamil) which echoes the aesthetic of indiginous Mapuche weaving and contains coded traditional stories of the Southern Chilean community. Triple woven hangings by María Eugenia Dávila and Eduardo Portillo incorporate silk, palm fibre and copper, precious metals hang loom-like in Homage to Cruz Diaz by Hechizoo & Jorge Lizarazo, and Chiachio & Giannone’s large scale uncanny embroidery presents elements that are at once familiar and alien, marrying the kitsch and the exotic to great effect.
See COVER 37 for articles on spectacular Latin American design by Alexandra Kehayoglou for Paris Fashion Week and Claudia Araùjo for Ruckstuhl.
Untitled, 2010, Maria Nepomuceno, Synthetic plastic rope, sisal rope; colored plastic beads; terracota beads and containers; glass fiber and resin pieces; braided, dyed, and natural “palha de carnauba” (carnauba hay), Courtesy of the Tiroche DeLeon Collection and Art Vantage PCC Limited
Hammock, 2013, Rodrigo Almeida, Hand-made cotton fabric, perforated leather (bovine), Courtesy of the artist
Redemption, 2012, Guillermo Bert (woven by Anita Paillamil), Wool, natural dyes, Courtesy of a private collection
Square Chamula Coat, 2008 part of the Casa Barragan Collection, Carla Fernández in collaboration with Taller Flora and Pascuala Sánchez, Wool handwoven in a waistloom, Courtesy of the artist
Informed consent/Meta-pieza, 2012-2014 part of the series Artículo 6: Narratives of gender, strength and politics, Lucia Cuba, Cotton canvas, transparent thread, digital printing, machine sewing, Courtesy of the artist
Homage to Cruz-Diez, 2010, Hechizoo & Jorge Lizarazo, Red copper; blue-, violet-, fuschia- and green-anodized copper; gold- and silver-plated wire, Museum of Arts and Design, gift of Cristina Grajales Gallery and Jorge Lizarazo, 2011
Sol de la tarde, 2013, María Eugenia Dávila & Eduardo Portillo, Triple weave, silk, moriche palm fiber (mauritia flexuosa) from the Orinoco River delta, copper, Courtesy of the artists
