Following the success of its exhibitions Inside (Paço das Artes, Brazil, 2008) and Transitions/Transiciones (Centro Cultural de Lima, Peru, 2008) as well as several collaborations with these two countries over the past years, Le Groupe Molior is now preparing an exhibition of works by Peruvian and Brazilian artists that will be shown in two locations in Montreal: OBORO and Maison de la culture Marie-Uguay.
Three young curators – Miguel Zegarra (Lima), Kiki Mazzucchelli (São Paulo) and Julie Bélisle (Montreal) – selected together eight artworks by new media artists from Peru and Brazil around the theme of restraint and its controlling effects in everyday life in these two South American countries.
The starting point of this exhibition is to show what the Brazilian and Peruvian contexts, in their cultural, social, and political aspects, have in common regarding the use of media technologies. Lima, the capital of Peru, represents a new paradigm of modernity that is, however, marked by paradox: chaos, poverty, mass access to technology, pirated technological products, historical buildings recycled into modern ones. All the signs of Peru’s socioeconomic complexity are concentrated in this situation. São Paulo is Brazil’s financial and business centre, a place where extreme situations of poverty and wealth co-exist. What the two cities seem to have in common, and which is reflected in many works in this exhibition, is the coexistence of paradoxical situations in which the forces of modernity and precariousness are constantly at play.
Curators
Julie Bélisle holds an MA in museology and has been working at the Galerie de l’UQAM since 2004. For her current doctoral studies in art history at UQAM she is focusing on accumulation processes in contemporary art, a specialization which has led her to participate in several anthropology research projects. She has published texts in various journals and exhibition catalogues and in 2007-2008 she took part in a writing residency at the 3e impérial (Granby, Québec). She also co-curated the exhibition Basculer presented at the Galerie de l’UQAM in 2007, conceived La science dans l’art, a virtual exhibition that gathered 32 Canadian artists, and curated an exhibition on the work of the artist Monique Régimbald-Zeiber which was presented in Europe in 2008.
Kiki Mazzucchelli is an independent curator and writer working between London and São Paulo. In 2009, she curated Jonathas de Andrade’s solo exhibition Tropical Hangover (Galeria Marcantonio Vilaça, Recife) and an exhibition-in-print project for the magazine Carnation (São Paulo). In the same year she was awarded a two-month International Curator residency from the Fundación Gilberto Alzate Avendaño (Bogotá, Colombia). Recent curatorial projects include the group show Looks Conceptual or How I Mistook a Carl Andre for a Pile of Bricks (Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo), Brazilian photographer Barbara Wagner’s solo show Brasília Teimosa (ICA, London) and the sound-based exhibition OIDARADIO (Paço das Artes, São Paulo). Her writings feature in several publications such as Bravo!, Cultura & Pensamento, ArtPress, Flash Art and others, as well as in various exhibition catalogues. She is the UK correspondent for the Spanish magazine ArteContexto, member of the CCSP group of external curators and served as a jury member for the Technology Connections Festival promoted by Instituto Sergio Motta (São Paulo, June-July 2008).
Miguel Zegarra was born in Lima, 1979. He graduated in History from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Since 2007, he is the curator of Galería Vértice in Lima (www.galeria-vertice.com). From 2004 to 2006, he was co-curator of the traveling international exhibition, Vía Satélite. Panorama of photography and video in contemporary Peru presented in Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Montevideo, Santiago, San José and Lima. Since 2004, he has been curator of the International Festival of Video and Electronic Art in Lima (VAE). He has also curated the video installation by the artist Patricia Bueno that represented Peru at the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007). His recent curatorial projects include La generación del espectáculo: Arte peruano contemporáneo (Galería Kiosko, Bolivia, 2009), En tránsito al paraíso: Imaginarios de la migración (Galería Vértice, 2009), La construcción del lugar común (Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Lima, 2008), Zona de desplazamientos: Videoarte peruano contemporáneo (MAMba Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, 2007). He has published texts in different magazines like Third Text (London), Contemporary (London), Arte Al Día International (Buenos Aires) and Artmotiv (Lima). Recently he was selected to be part of the Peruvian delegation for the X Bienal Internacional de Cuenca (Ecuador, 2009), as a member of a curatorial team.
Brazilian Artists
Amilcar Packer was born in Santiago de Chile, in 1974 and lives and works in São Paulo. In 1999, he graduated in Philosophy from the Universidade de São Paulo. He studied with Eduardo Brandão from 1988 to 2001 at the independent art school Terceiro Andar. His recent solo exhibitions include Entre, Usina do Gasômetro, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2009), Polisemiose at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, São Paulo (2006) and Grave at Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo (2005). His work was featured in many recent group shows such as the 2nd Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece (2009), ‘Tipos móviles’ in the 2nd Trienal Poligráfica de San Juan, San Juan, Porto Rico (2009), ‘Farewell to Post-Colonialism’ Third Guangzhou Triennial, Time Museum/Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China (2009) Interrogating Systems, CIFO Grants and Commissions Exhibition, Miami (2008), Geração da Virada, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo (2006), Con los Ojos del Otro, Centro Cultural de España, Montevideo (2006) and the Sydney Biennale (2004).
Leandro Lima and Gisela Motta were both born in São Paulo, in 1976. Between 1996 and 1999, they studied Visual Arts at FAAP in São Paulo, and since then they have been working in partnership. Their solo exhibitions include Sob Controle (2009) and Vivendo at Galeria Vermelho in São Paulo (2006) and Foreign Element at HIAP, Helsinki (2007). Their recent group exhibitions include the 10th Havana Biennale, Havana (2009), We Used to Be Painters at Plan 9, Bristol (2008), I/Legítimo at MIS, São Paulo (2008) and Aktuelle Videokunst aus Brasilien at KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin (2007). Motta and Lima were artists-in-residence in the UK for a three-month period in 2008 through the Artist Links/ British Council program. In 2006, they were awarded the prestigious Marcantonio Vilaça Prize and they also won the Incentive bursary at the Sergio Motta Art & Technology Awards in 2004.
Lucas Bambozzi is a multimedia artist based in São Paulo, Brazil. His works have been shown in solo and collective exhibitions in more than 40 countries. He was a visiting artist at the CAiiA-STAR Centre, where he has developed an extensive research about on-line privacy and pervasive systems, as part of his M.Phil. studies, concluded in 2006 at the University of Plymouth, UK. His research on media and art has led to a series of curatorial projects such as: Life Goes Mobile (2005) and arte.mov, International Mobile Media Art Festival (2006-2009). Bambozzi has been working with collectives FAQ/feitoamãos and Cobaia, dealing with live video performances and media intervention projects in public spaces. His recent exhibitions include Interconnect at ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany (2006), Pensée Sauvage – on Freedom at Frankfurter Kunstverein in Germany (2007) and Emergentes at LABoral, (2007/2008) Gijon, Spain and RE:akt!, at ŠKUC gallery, Ljubljana in Slovenia.
Rodrigo Matheus was born in 1974, in São Paulo. He completed a B.A. in multimedia at the Faculty of Arts and Communication of the University of São Paulo. He has exhibited extensively in Brazil and abroad. In 2008, he had a solo exhibition at Galeria Fortes Vilaça, São Paulo and took part in several group shows including Looks Conceptual or How I Mistook a Carl Andre for a Pile of Bricks at Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, and Images Festival at Art Gallery of York University, Toronto. Other recent group exhibitions include Arquivo Geral at Centro de Arte Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro (2006) MAM na Oca at Oca, São Paulo (2006) and Paradoxos Brasil - Rumos Artes Visuais at Instituto Itaú Cultural, São Paulo, Centro Dragão do Mar Arte e Cultura, Fortaleza, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Goiânia and at Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro (2005/2006). The artist is represented by Galeria Fortes Vilaça in São Paulo.
Peruvian Artists
José Carlos Martinat was born in Lima, in 1974. He graduated from the Instituto Antonio Gaudí – Centro de la Fotografía. He studied sound design and interactive software and art. His recent group exhibitions include 7 Bienal do Mercosul (2009), 2nd Trienal Poli/Gráfica from San Juan (2009), MALI Contemporáneo at Museo de Arte de Lima (2009), Emergentes presented at LABoral in Gijón, Spain (2008) and at Fundación Telefónica in Buenos Aires, Santiago and Lima (2008-2009), 10°00 S / 76°00 W at Galeria Leme in São Paulo (2007), Doppelgänger: El doble de la Realidad at MARCO Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Vigo, Spain (2007), VAE9 Festival Internacional de Video/Arte /Electrónico in Lima (2005), World Wide Video Festival in Amsterdam (2004), Vía Satélite. Panorama de la fotografía y video arte contemporáneo del Perú, latinoamerican itinerancy. He received the Incentive for New Productions Award in the Vida 7.0 Arte y Vida Artificial Competition Fundación Telefónica, Madrid, Spain (2004). The artist is represented by Galeria Leme in São Paulo and Revolver Galería in Lima. He lives and works in Lima.
Nicole Franchy was born in Lima, in 1977. She graduated from Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes Corriente Alterna (Silver Medal, Honours). She studied interactive software at Centro Fundación Telefónica in Lima and she is starting a Master Degree in Fine Arts at HISK Higher Institute for Fine Arts in Ghent, Belgium. Her recent solo exhibitions include Patron 3.15 H9 at Galería Vértice, Lima (2008), Espacios Compartidos at Centro Cultural Ricardo Palma, Lima (2006) and Urbania at Galería 5006, Buenos Aires (2007). She participated in recent group shows such as Des-habitables (traveling exhibition: Lima, Madrid, 2009-2010), La construcción del lugar común at Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Lima (2008), Frontera / under the skyline at Galería Vértice (2007), Buenos Aires Photo at Palais de Glace, Buenos Aires (2006 and 2007 editions), Método de Duda at Galería Artco, Lima (2003). She has received many awards such as the First Prize of Photography Humboldt / Goethe Institute, Lima (2002) and she was a finalist for the X Concurso de Artes Visuales “Pasaporte para un Artista” / Embajada de Francia, Lima (2007) and the Unión Latina Prize (2008, finalist). She lives and works between Rome and Belgium.
Rolando Sánchez was born in Lima, in 1974. He graduated from Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes de Lima and from the Electronic Engineer Faculty of Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú where he is a regular teacher. His recent group exhibitions include Homo Ludens Ludens at LABoral, Gijón, Spain (2008), Videt 08 International Festival of Vilafranca del Penedés, Barcelona, Spain (2008), V Bienal iberoamericana de Videocreación y Arte Digital Inquieta Imagen at Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo de San José, Costa Rica (2007), 3rd Festival of Electronic Art, Rosario, Argentina (2006), VAE10 Festival Internacional de Video/Arte/Electrónica, Lima (2006), 2nd Festival of Electronic Art 404, Rosario (2005), Break 2.3 New Species, Ljubljana, Slovenia (2005), Artware 3 at Centro Cultural de la Universidad Católica, Lima (2005), Softmachine at Galería Artco, Lima (2005). Sánchez was awarded prizes at the “III Exhibition of Digital Art” (Video installation category, Santa Fe, Argentina, 2006) and the First Prize Metropolitan Contest for Young Visual Artists (Lima Municipality, 2006). He lives and works in Lima.
Gabriel Acevedo Velarde was born in Lima, in 1976. He graduated in Fine Arts from Universidad de las Américas, Puebla, México. The artist studied film production and photography. His recent solo exhibitions include Quorum Power at Museo Carrillo Gil, Mexico City (2009), No matter what happens to you, we will keep growing at Y Gallery, Queens, New York (2008), Incorporación, desprendimiento at Galeria OMR, Mexico City (2008), Marathon at Galeria Leme, Sao Paulo (2008), Sinapsis Insurrección at Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros, Mexico City (2006). His recent group shows include MALI Contemporáneo at Museo de Arte de Lima (2009), Guangzhou Triennial at Guangdong Museum of Art, China (2008), I/Legítimo at Paço das Artes / Museu da Imagem e do Som, São Paulo (2008), The Culture Clash, Working Rooms Project Space, London (2008), Fuck you human at Maribel Lopez Gallery, Berlin (2008), Zoótropo at Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City (2008), Panorama 2007 at Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, FACE-UP at Galerie Adler, New York (2007), Geopolíticas de la Animación at Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla (2007), En Perfecto Desorden at Museo de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2007), The Fourth Seoul International Media Arts Biennale (2006), Contemporary Video Art from Brazil at Galerie Adler, Frankfurt (2006). He has received many awards from Fundación Jumex (2007), Rockefeller Foundation (2006), American Center Foundation (2007) and at the 15th Festival Videobrasil (Honorific Mention). The artist is represented by Galeria Leme in São Paulo. He lives and works in Berlin.
