Public art Tag

ART & ARCHITECTURE DERIVES

Visions of the fallen Altepetl: A story of Tlatelolco through art

Balam Bartolomé

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Visions of the fallen Altepetl: A story of Tlatelolco through art

Conversation with Balam Bartolomé

  • Saturday, August 31, 2024
  • 13:00h
  • At Arte Abierto | 2nd floor Artz Pedregal
  • Free admission

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No registration required.

Tlatelolco is possibly one of the best-known modern architectural projects in Mexico City, not only for its design but for its historical relevance throughout different periods: the pre-Hispanic era, its colonial past and today. It is a site that has gained particular relevance within citizen memory.

This Derive is a review of some artistic projects carried out by the artist Balam Bartolomé in the Tlatelolco area, works that refer equally to public space, as well as its gardens and buildings, from the Mesoamerican era to the modern dystopia. The projects and works make visible the historical layers that is Tlatelolco, and how the ancient island makes the past coexist with the present in its perimeter, by drawing a map and a route for the national future.

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Balam Bartolomé (Ocosingo, Chiapas)
He is a visual artist from UNAM. His work seeks the relationship between contemporary cultures and their past, based on the study of matter and its history. Co-director of the Bienal Tlatelolca. Beneficiary of The The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Jumex Foundation, Patronato de Arte Contemporáneo, the Artistic Residencies Program, Young Creators and the National System of Art Creators. He has exhibited in North, Central and South America, Europe and Asia. She has been an artist in residence at Flora Ars+Natura (Colombia), Casa Wabi (Mexico), Arte ERA (Uruguay), Sculpture Space (USA), Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (USA), International Studio & Curatorial Program (USA) and Nordic Kunstnarsenter (Norway). His solo exhibitions include Mexímoron at the Museo Nacional de las Intervenciones and Revés at the Museo Carrillo Gil. His group exhibitions include: Poli/Gráfica in Puerto Rico (USA), 1st BIENALSUR (Argentina), 1st Bristol Biennial (England) and 15th Tallinn Triennial (Estonia).

IG @balam_b
IG @bienaltlatelolca

Arte Abierto continues with its new public program Derivas de Arte y Arquitectura (Art & Architecture Derives), which seeks to renew our gaze on the architectural legacy of Mexico City. From a series of talks focused on rescuing the parallel stories of emblematic architectural projects and public spaces that have witnessed the variable intersection between art and architecture. In this first stage, the program deals mainly with modern architecture, based on a series of talks given by invited curators, architects, artists and urban planners.

With this program, ways of returning to architecture part of its public, experiential, collective character and close to those of us who inhabit the city are tested, recognizing in it its condition as a living archive. From these talks, circumstances, contexts and anecdotes are revealed that have been part of his sensitive memory and that complement his material memory, a relationship that often escapes documentary narratives and academic accounts.

The objective of the drifts is to generate experiences of spatial rediscovery, which allow us to renew our gaze on the legacy of certain emblematic architectural and artistic works, as well as those that have been forgotten.

The derives will be carried out free of charge on the last Saturday of each month, at 1:00 p.m. with a limited capacity.

Arte Abierto Derives :

February 26: Tania Ragasol / Entorno urbano, cotidianidad y arte: La Torre de los Vientos by Gonzalo Fonseca

March 26 : David Miranda / Del Animal Herido y otros eventos escultóricos dentro de la arquitectura moderna

April 23: Gustavo Lipkau y Xavier Hierro / Integración plástica de los edificios del campus central de CU: sus murales

May 28: Marisol Argüelles / La casa-estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo. Del espacio doméstico a la dimensión de lo público

June 25: Luis Javier de la Torre/ La Ruta de la Amistad MÉXICO68… más allá de 1968

July 30: Aldo Solano/ Architecture for playing in 20th Century Mexico City.

August 27: Christian del Castillo/ Tracing the modern in the architecture of the Historic Center of Mexico City.

September 24: Juan José Kochen/ The Ideal of the Multifamily Apartment cComplex.

October 29: Tania Candiani/ Quantum Prelude. Sound activation by Tania Candiani.

March 25: Ana Garduño/ Cultural Geographies: The invention of museum circuits in 20th century Mexico City.

May 27: Rebeca Barquera/ The Plastic Integration Movement México: More than murals on buildings.

June 17: Julián Arroyo Cetto/ Max Cetto in the beginning of El Pedregal.

July 29: Peter Kriegel/ The eco-aesthetics of El Pedregal and constructive botany in the megacity of Mexico.

August 26: Arturo Rivera García y Roberto Bustamante Castrejón/ Jardines del Pedregal Legacy: Memory and Identity.

September 30: Tonatiuh Martínez/ The garden as an extension of nature.

October 21: Lorena Botello/ Clara Porset’s Design: Between Tradition and Modernity.

March 23: Alejandro Ochoa Vega y Francisco Haroldo Alfaro Salazar/ Cinemas in Mexico in the 20th Century: Distant Spaces in Memory.

April 20: Rodrigo Torres Ramos / Pictorial Functionalism: The proposal for plastic integration of Mario Pani and Carlos Mérida.

June 22: María Bustamante Harfush / Public work and collective housing by Abraham Zabludovsky.

July 27: Veka Duncan / El Art Déco en México. La nacionalización de la modernidad

August 31: Balam Bartolomé / Visiones del Altépetl caído: Un relato de Tlatelolco desde el arte

MORPHO

ANIBAL CATALAN

Morpho is a sculptural installation, especially conceived for the architectural space of Antara Polanco and developed in collaboration with Arte Abierto.

In Morpho, the Mexican artist Anibal Catalan takes as a reference the natural forms of the tiger dragonfly and the colors of the painting Yellow Landscape (1908) by the Russian artist Kasimir Malevich, to create a structure that allows the viewer to relate sensitively and spatially with the place that inhabits and travels. The side walls use the same shapes and colors in composition, creating a dialogue between the two-dimensionality of the murals and the three-dimensionality of the installation.

Morpho opens to the public in the main access tunnel of Antara and will be temporarily from Thursday March 23 to May 31, with free access.
To download Arte Abierto’s press release of Morpho click here.

To enter the Antara’s Morpho Press kit click here.

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Anibal Catalan (Iguala, Guerrero, 1973)
Estudied Plastic Arts at the National School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving “La Esmeralda”. He was founder and member of the collective project GL Mutante (2003) and was part of the advisory committee of the Alterna y Corriente (2009) space in Mexico City. His work is based on a reflection on space and architecture, through painting, sculpture, video and installation, as well as site-specific projects and public spaces. Throughout his career, he has been part of individual exhibitions places like the MuseumsQuartier (Viena), Museo de la Ciudad de Querétaro, Polyforum Siqueiros, CAN Foundation (Seúl); de manera colectiva, su obra se ha presentado en el Museum Gyeonggi (Corea del Sur), Museo de Arte Moderno (México), MARCO, San Diego Art Institute as well as in biennials such as the Tamayo Biennial, the Photography Biennial at Centro de la Imagen, Istanbul Design Biennale, among others.

 

IG @anibalcatalanstudio

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ILLEGAL ART

09.14.2019 – 11.30.2019

In September 2019, the New York based collective Illegal Art presented for the first time in Mexico three projects in Artz Pedregal: Last Word, Suggestion Box, What Color Are You? and the installation commissioned by <Arte Abierto>, Measure Up. Each one encouraged the participation of the public, as a creative-collective experience.

THE LAST WORD

There are always things that are not said, that we keep and remain within us. The installation can be the perfect ending to a conversation with a stranger, an intelligent response in a debate at work, a farewell to a loved one and, above all, a space for opportunities to have the last word that we have lost.

The Last Word provides an intimate moment to take back what was never said. The public can write their “last word” on a piece of paper, then roll it up and place it in small cavities in a cardboard wall that resemble the shape of a honeycomb.

The rolled-up papers in which thoughts and emotions were captured can be read by other people who decide to participate, thus accessing a repertoire of diverse ideas and reflections.

Everyone is free to take part or limit themselves only to reading what others have written and to make collective reflections. The words respect individuality, but reveal that the experience is greater when the participation is collective. The work grows with the contribution of the public. Perhaps with these exercises we can get closer to understanding concepts such as happiness, sadness, desires and take advantage of the moment of self-reflection that art offers.

The Last Word was activated from September 14 to October 12, 2019. The piece remained until November 9, 2019 at Artz Pedregal.

SUGGESTION BOX

For this action, people in different parts of Mexico City were asked to write down a suggestion, idea or thought of any kind on a piece of paper, and place it in a small slot included in a transportable cardboard box. Once the boxes were filled with suggestions, they were compiled and posted on <Arte Abierto> social media as anonymous thoughts.
Suggestion Box has traveled to three continents and been activated by individuals and groups in local communities, collecting the ideas of tens of thousands of people in numerous languages. In 2005, Chronicle Books published a compilation of suggestions made in New York under the title Suggestion.

Suggestion Box was activated from September 20 to October 12 at different locations in Mexico City and the boxes were opened with Otis Kriegel, co-founder of Illegal Art, at Espacio Arte Abierto.

WHAT COLOR ARE YOU?

In this activation, each participant was invited to paint on a blank 3 x 3 inch (7.62 x 7.62 cm) paper the color that they felt essentially represented them as people. Subsequently, they were asked to place it on a checkered panel, next to each other. The result was a mosaic full of different shades, representing hundreds of people related by a physical space.

The public was invited to participate in What Color Are You? from October 5 to November 9. The piece remained on display until November 29, 2019 at Artz Pedregal.

MEASURE UP

At one point or another, we’ve all looked up to public figures, from movie stars and athletes, to activists, explorers, scientists, and artists. Giants in their fields, they have adorned magazines and screens to be larger than life within our minds. But how big are they in real life? Can we measure up to them?

Measure Up is a project commissioned by <Arte Abierto>, which plays with the international growth indicator of childhood: the frame of the home door marked with centimeters. Along an outdoor path, wooden structures were placed, simulating these frames, each indicating the height and the names of well-known personalities of culture, science or history, whom we admire or aspire to resemble.

The intention was to put things in perspective and that, through their height, each participant could identify and create a bond with these characters.

Measure Up was activated in Artz Pedregal from October 12 to November 30, 2019.

ILLEGAL ART

The Illegal Art collective was founded in 2001 by artists Otis Kriegel and Michael McDevitt in New York. Their goal is to create participatory public art that inspires self-reflection, thought, and human connection. Each piece is presented or distributed in such a way that participation is simple and motivated. His projects have been presented in countries such as the United States, England, Spain, Italy, China, New Zealand, among others.

illegalart.org/

@illegalart2001.