REMIX & REOPEN:
NEW, TIMELY EXHIBITION AT NEUBERGER MUSEUM OF ART OF PURCHASE COLLEGE OFFERS FRESH VIEW ON PRE-COLUMBIAN PAST
NEUBERGER MUSEUM REOPENS WITH A DAYLONG CELEBRATION
Pre-Columbian Remix:
The Art of Enrique Chagoya, Demián Flores,
Rubén Ortiz-Torres, and Nadín Ospina
April 28–July 14, 2013
Celebration on Sunday, April 28 is free and open to the public
The Neuberger Museum of Art of Purchase College reopens on Sunday, April 28th with the provocative exhibition Pre-Columbian Remix: The Art of Enrique Chagoya, Demián Flores, Rubén Ortiz-Torres, and Nadín Ospina, and a grand daylong celebration which is free and open to the public. (The Museum had been closed for ten months during extensive HVAC renovation work.) Free admission with tours of the exhibition, Latin jazz, hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and activities for the entire family are planned for opening day.
The memory of pre-Columbian cultures, of its icons and myths, is ever present throughout Latin America. In fact, in most Latin American countries, the very idea of Pre-Columbian heritage (indigenous culture before European colonization) has been a strategy to reinforce national unity. But this trend is being challenged by four leading Latin American artists, whose work is the focus of the exhibition Pre-Columbian Remix, on view at the Neuberger Museum of Art, from April 28 through July 14, 2013.
By fusing ancient Aztec, Mayan or Incan art forms with pop-culture imagery in an ironic and often humorous manner, the artists address present day concerns relating to universal themes of consumption, corruption, and globalization. The result is an engaging, provocative, twenty-first century composite portrait. Re-mixed, and renewed, the past becomes accessible under very different perspectives.
“By re-mixing elements from different times and places in novel ways, the work of the artists presented here offers a new reading of history,” notes Patrice Giasson, curator of the exhibition. “The past is not conceived as a long narrative of successive events in time but rather as something integrated into the present. This allows the artists to inscribe their own time and concerns into the historical framework.”
Pre-Columbian Remix, features more than 90 works of art, including stone sculptures, lithographs, large-scale paintings, platinum and cyanotype prints, and a monumental outdoor inflatable sculpture, on loan from different locations in the Americas (Bogotá, Mexico City, San Diego, New Jersey, New York). The works are by Enrique Chagoya, Demián Flores, Rubén Ortiz Torres, and Nadín Ospina.
Enrique Chagoya (b. 1953, Mexico City, Mexico; lives and works in San Francisco, CA)
Chagoya makes paintings and prints about the changing nature of culture. By juxtaposing secular, popular, and religious symbols, he creates deceptively friendly points of entry for the discussion of complex issues. Pop icons such as Mickey Mouse and Superman are placed side by side with ancient sacred images to create a tension and dialogue between different cultures. The artist addresses colonialism and oppression. Explains Chagoya: “Cultures are transformed and often completely destroyed by conquering ones. The world is endlessly re-mapped and re-named, with new rules and rulers in recurrent holocausts… This is the raw material for my art.”
Demián Flores (b. 1971, Oaxaca, Mexico; lives and works in Mexico City and Oaxaca)
This is the first exhibition of Demián Flores’ work in New York and the most complete survey exhibition he has had in the United States to date. With an intense direct style, Flores anchors his work in the reality of contemporary Mexico. He mixes images from Mexico’s past and present – pre-Columbian warriors, fertility figures, and pyramids, with present day comic book characters and appropriated images from pop culture, such as baseball, soccer, and boxing. This hybrid product reflects controlled violence, and his concerns about the survival of pre-Columbian roots in a world increasingly homogenized by globalization and a different sort of colonization achieved by the bombardment and power of mass media imagery. All this, the artist believes, leads to alienation and a cultural identity crisis in Oaxacan communities.
Rubén Ortiz-Torres (b. 1964, Mexico City, Mexico; lives and works in Los Angeles and San Diego, CA)
The work of Ortiz-Torres also addresses hybridization, the blend of Mexican and American cultures and what happens when those cultures come together. A resident of Los Angeles, Ortiz-Torres is concerned with transnational cultural media and objects … photography, video, film, painting, baseball caps, custom cars, machinery, puppets, and the collisions of art and culture. “My work interacts with the cultural and iconographic post-national chaos,” he once commented. He sees uncertainty, dislocation and the creative compromises that characterize peoples and places–and considers the possibilities. With the world in transition, he addresses the implications of multiculturalism and the politics of identity.
Nadín Ospina (b. 1960 Bogotá, Colombia; lives and works in Bogotá)
Pre-Columbian Remix is the most representative and complete exhibition of Ospina’s work to be exhibited in New York. It includes works from one of the artist’s most significant body of work known as El sueño americano (The American Dream). This exhibition also includes Ospina’s giant inflatable sculpture, The Stroller, which was presented at the 7th Havana Biennial (2000) and at the 49th Venice Biennial (2001), and on view now for the first time in New York.
Pre-Columbian Remix: The Art of Enrique Chagoya, Demián Flores, Rubén Ortiz-Torres, and Nadín Ospina is organized by Patrice Giasson, Alex Gordon Associate Curator of Art of the Americas. The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue edited by Giasson, with additional essays by Joaquín Barriendos, Jaime Cerón, Serge Gruzinski, and Julian Kreimer
Support for Pre-Columbian Remix is provided by the Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art, and ArtsWestchester, with support from Westchester County Government. Additional funding is provided by Krytzia and Eugenio Minvielle, the Alex Gordon Estate, and the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York.
The Neuberger Museum of Art has organized the following exhibition-related programs and events in conjunction with the exhibition. They are free with Museum admission, unless otherwise specified.
Sunday, April 28
1:00–4:00 pm
Public Opening Celebration of Museum and Pre-Columbian Remix
Latin jazz; white wine sangria; empanadas, salsa, crab cakes, vegetable burritos, and more! Pre-Columbian Remix curator Patrice Giasson and the artists will be in attendance. Family activities occur throughout the afternoon.
Admission and refreshments are free.
Wednesday, May 1
4:45–8:00 pm
Neu First Wednesdays: Pre-Columbian Sacrifice Remix (Devotional Altar)
Underground video, music, and performance artist group Sonido Apokalitzin visit the Neuberger Museum from Mexico City to perform with Purchase College student musicians and dancers for an all-out party, celebrating the re-opening of the Museum and the exhibition Pre-Columbian Remix. Witness a neo-mambo performance in the flesh: dj/vj artists live-mix videos of contemporary Mexican and pre-Columbian life, and dancers perform to live music, creating an experience that can’t be replicated. Come dance with us!
Admission and refreshments are free.
Thursday, May 2
7:00 pm
Art Comes to the Street: Sonido Apokalitzin and Joanquín Barriendos in Conversation
Join Mexico-City based performance artist group Sonido Apokalitzin and Joaquín Barriendos, a professor in the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures at Columbia University, and exhibition catalgoue essayist, in a conversation about urban culture and society in contemporary Mexico.
Open to the public.
Sunday, May 5
2:00 pm
Commemorate Cinco de Mayo with a special tour
Join us when we commemorate this historical day with a special docent-led tour around its cultural significance as reflected in the artworks included in Pre-Columbian Remix.
Saturday, June 1
1:00–4:00 pm
Family First Saturdays: Personal Stories, Ancient Books
Workshop for kids tots to ten, accompanied by an adult: look at the work of artist Enrique Chagoya, who connects ancient Aztec book-making traditions with his imaginative stories of popular characters, then illustrate a book which tells a story of an imaginary character.
Friday, June 21
7:00 pm
Art in Dialogue: a single work of art from Pre-Columbian Remix
Join in an extended conversation with a museum educator around a single work of art from the exhibition Pre-Columbian Remix. Enjoy the opportunity to have “a long look” at a great work of art, and the chance to converse with fellow art-lovers.
Reservations are required due to space limitations. Art in Dialogue takes place after the galleries are closed to the public.
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The Neuberger Museum of Art of Purchase College engages and inspires diverse audiences by actively fostering the study, appreciation, understanding and enjoyment of modern art, African art, and the art of our time. The Museum is located at 735 Anderson Hill Road in Purchase, New York (Westchester). 914-251-6100
Museum Hours
Tuesday through Sunday, 12 noon to 5 pm
Closed Mondays and major holidays
Group tours by appointment only on Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 am to 12 noon
For persons with special needs, designated parking is available at the south end
of the Museum building. Call ahead for wheelchair accommodations.
Museum Store
Open during Museum hours. The store features a broad selection of art books,
art cards, handcrafted jewelry, children’s items and one-of-a-kind limited edition gifts.
Admission
$5.00 General Public
$3:00 seniors and students with valid ID.
Museum members, children 12 and under, Purchase College students and faculty admitted free.
Directions
The Neuberger Museum of Art is easily accessible by car or bus, and may also be reached by Metro-North. By car: From the North or South – take the Hutchinson River Parkway to Exit 28. Head north on Lincoln Avenue to Anderson Hill Road. Turn right onto Anderson Hill Road. Left at first traffic light into Purchase College campus. From 684 – take Exit 2 South on Route 120 to Anderson Hill Road. Turn left onto Anderson Hill to 2nd traffic light. Turn left at Purchase College campus. From the East – take Route 287 (Cross Westchester Expressway) to Exit 8E. Take second left over Expressway onto Anderson Hill Road. Follow signs to SUNY Purchase.
The Neuberger Museum of Art is an integral part of Purchase College, State University of New York. The
Museum is supported in part by the State University of New York. Support for the Museum’s collection, exhibitions, publications, and education programs is provided by grants from public and private
agencies, individual contributions, and the Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art’s members and Board. Additional funding is provided by ArtsWestchester, with funds from Westchester County government, and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
