Mariana Acosta |
Tube socks, balloons, shattered windshields and more familiar materials are all interpreted as objects of adornment and artistic statements with a modern Latin American perspective in an exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
Maria Constanza Ochoa |
Latin America spans beyond the U.S. border in the north to the tip Antarctica in the south. While sharing Native American, Spanish and African heritage; culturally and historically the vast region is extremely complex. Add to this geography that includes vast mountain ranges, deserts, rainforests and island chains and the isolation these terrains represent, and you get an idea of the challenges of organizing an exhibit that represents such breadth—even though it takes up a small space on the second floor of the museum.
The themes weren’t clear to me while viewing the exhibit and I don’t think it matters. If there is a commonality, it’s that the individual statements, use of materials and creativity employed are as diverse as the region these works represent.
Teresa Margolles |
Raquel Paiewonsk |
Reny Golcman |
A large neckpiece displayed like a round cake with shades of gray, blue and green by Mariana Acosta of Mexico (first photo) is designed to protect the wearer against the grayness of northern winters. Another necklace made of deflated black and white latex balloons slightly filled with flour by Maria Constanza Ochoa of Colombia (second photo), is open to different interpretations. And there’s a necklace with a pendant adorned with a barracuda jaw bone that the artist, Reny Golcman of Brazil, describes as an exploration of taboo subjects like death (left).
The exhibition, which began October 12, will run through Jan. 8, 2011, at the museum located on 2 Columbus Circle.
The exhibition, which began October 12, will run through Jan. 8, 2011, at the museum located on 2 Columbus Circle.