NEW WORKS: 08.1
On View Through May 11, 2008
445 North Main Avenue
San Antonio, Texas 78205
Artpace San Antonio announces the opening of new projects by 08.1 resident artists Margarita Cabrera (El Paso, Texas), Regina José Galindo (Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala), and Rodney McMillian (Los Angeles, California), selected by Franklin Sirmans, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Margarita Cabrera’s sculptures explore the political and social dichotomies that emerge as a result of the U.S./Mexico border relationship. Her Artpace project, The Craft of Resistance, is exhibited in two parts, the first of which is a working maquiladora set up in her Artpace studio. With its makeshift structure and bright fluorescent lighting, the 12-step assembly line is identical to countless factories found throughout Mexico. During Cabrera’s residency, volunteers worked with the artist at the mock factory to produce 2,500 small copper butterflies, the wings of which were imprinted on one side with a monarch butterfly pattern and on the opposite with an impression of the American penny. Thousands of the delicate butterflies were then installed in a private home in a neighboring San Antonio suburb. The beautiful, yet plague-like installation covers the interior of the home, swarming on the ceiling, curtains, chairs, tables, and appliances. Separated from the studio where they were produced, the location of the butterflies emphasizes the disparity between the sights of production and consumption of Mexican-made products in the United States.
Regina José Galindo’s performances and poetry address social injustice, gender discrimination, and racism, often focusing on the governmental atrocities of the Guatemalan dictatorship. Her Artpace project, America’s Family Prison, responds to the United States’ booming industry of private prisons, and in particular, to a family detention center in Texas authorized to imprison families of men, women, children, and babies. José Galindo rented a prison cell from Sweeper Metal Fabricators Corp, which she and her family occupied for a performance that lasted a limited period of time before and during the exhibition’s opening reception. The cell remains at Artpace and is open for public viewing.
Rodney McMillian’s multimedia installa-tions recycle remnants of everyday life into objects that deconstruct the tenets of historical interpretation. At Artpace, McMillian’s Untitled comprises a group of five paintings draping from ceiling to floor, vertical columns of anonymous photographic portraits found by the artist, and a ragged chair and rug coated in red paint—all situated beneath a vaulted makeshift paper cathedral ceiling. The sound component, “Pelicans in Texas” by musician Stefan Tcherepnin, is a synthesizer-based minimalist composition, which further contributes to the meditative space. Seen as a unit, these works form a constellation that situates paintings adjacent to sculpture in an exploration of themes related to the landscape, church, and home.
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Franklin Sirmans is the Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas. He has curated numerous exhibitions including Lessons from Below: Otabenga Jones & Associates, Menil Collection (2007); and Basquiat, Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX (2005-06), co-curated with Marc Mayer, Fred Hoffman, and Kellie Jones. A former U.S. editor of Flash Art and editor-in-chief of ArtAsiaPacific, he has written for publications such as Art in America, The New York Times, Essence, and Newsweek International. Sirmans was named the 2007 recipient of the David C. Driskell Prize, awarded by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA.
EXHIBITION INFORMATION
New Works: 08.1 is made possible by the Linda Pace Foundation; City of San Antonio’s Office of Cultural Affairs; Nimoy Foundation; The Brown Foundation, Inc.; and Melva Bucksbaum and Raymond Learsy; with additional support from the Texas Commission on the Arts.
ABOUT ARTPACE
Artpace San Antonio serves as a laboratory for the creation and advancement of international contemporary art. Artpace believes that art is a dynamic social force that inspires individuals and defines cultures. Our residencies, exhibitions, and education programs nurture the creative expression of emerging and established artists, while actively engaging youth and adult audiences.
Artpace is located downtown at 445 North Main Avenue, between Savings and Martin streets, San Antonio, Texas. Free parking is available at 513 North Flores. Artpace is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday, 12-5 PM, Thursday, 12-8 PM, and by appointment. Admission is free.
For press inquiries, please contact Celina Emery at cemery@artpace.org
