PRESENTS ITS 2007 GRANTS PROGRAM EXHIBITION
Positions in Context showcases new work by emerging artists from Latin América awarded through The Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation Grants Program this fall.
Miami, Florida – The upcoming group exhibition, Positions in Context: 2007 CIFO Grants Program Exhibition, will showcase new work by 10 talented young artists from Latin America who were selected to receive grants in 2007 from the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, known as CIFO. On view from September 21 to October 28 at CIFO Art Space, the exhibition is the culmination of a year-long process during which the Foundation’s international Advisory Committee and Board of the Directors identified the grant recipients, and the artists developed new work to share with audiences in Miami.
“CIFO’s Grants Program not only offers vital support for emerging artists from Latin America, it also gives them a platform to present new work in the U.S.,” said CIFO’s Chief Curator, Cecilia Fajardo-Hill. “Through this exhibition, Miami residents and visitors can glimpse the cutting-edge art and artists that are changing our understanding of contemporary art from Latin America.”
Artists are nominated for the Grants Program by CIFO’s international Advisory Committee of leading artists, curators, and art professionals. The honorary committee invites submissions from emerging visual artists from Latin America who are working in various media and creating challenging and highly innovative work. CIFO’s selection committee announces the final winners after rigorous study of over 200 project proposals.
CIFO founder Ella Fontanals-Cisneros noted, “These artists each communicate a unique vision of contemporary art and are themselves becoming a part of the larger global art context. Our goal at CIFO is to help these artists grow, and offer opportunities for others to witness their groundbreaking work.”
CIFO’s 2007 grant recipients hail from different countries in Latin America and Europe and were selected not only for the merits of their artistic accomplishments, but also for the provocative and relevant nature of their project proposals. The artists featured in the exhibition are: Alberto Baraya (Colombia), Fredi Casco (Paraguay), Donna Conlon (Panama), Adriana García Galán (Colombia), Renata Lucas (Brazil), Luis Molina-Pantin (Venezuela), Angel Poyón (Guatemala), collaborators Cecilia Szalkowicz and Gastón Pérsico (Argentina), Emilio Valdés (Mexico), and Hector Zamora (Mexico).
While diverse in their artistic practices and perspectives, the selected artists have produced works for Positions in Context that are contextual and site-specific in nature. Several of the works involve the artists’ cultural, political and geographical contexts, while others entail a site-specific practice, involving the physical space as well as the viewer.
The exhibition includes: installations created in response to the CIFO Art Space; pieces that explore and challenge the limitations and conventions of museum and gallery spaces; reflections on the tradition of landscape and nature; work that investigates art culture within a global context; and three video installations that take on broader social issues. As a whole, Positions in Context reflects the artists’ perspectives on institutional space, the contemporary landscape, consumer culture, and the political arena. Like the artists themselves, the works are complex and contribute to a broad international contemporary discourse.
Now in their second year, CIFO’s Grants and Commissions programs provide critical funding and visibility for contemporary artists from Latin America, helping to broaden global appreciation of their work while challenging stereotypical notions of Latin American art. These programs and related exhibitions give artists from Latin America a new platform to show their work, and present them in the context of the international contemporary art community.
Related Exhibition Programming
Opening Reception
Thursday, September 20, 2007
7:00 – 10:00 pm
Gallery Talk with the Artists
Friday, September 21, 2007, 7:00 pm
Wynwood Second Saturdays - Extended Hours and Public Reception Saturday, October 13, 2007, 7:00 -10:00 pm
image 1: Emilio Valdés , “Who am I entering my old folk's house lonely and wasted with a black leather jacket on a saturday after dawn?” (THE REAL LIFE#2), (video still), 2007, Digital video
image 2: Hector Zamora, “Simulated Topographies”, Installation and photos, Variable dimensions, 2007
About CIFO
CIFO, the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, is a non-profit organization established in 2002 by Ella Fontanals-Cisneros and her family to foster cultural and educational exchange within the visual arts.
CIFO has three primary initiatives:
CIFO Art Space – a permanent venue for the presentation of engaging and provocative contemporary art exhibitions highlighting works from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection, works by CIFO grantees and commissioned artists, and experimental, challenging art programs;
Grants and Commissions Programs - supporting emerging and mid-career contemporary artists from Latin America; and
Foundation - initiated support for other arts and culture projects.
CIFO is located at 1018 North Miami Avenue. The galleries are open to the public Thursday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. or by appointment. Public information is available online at www.cifo.org or by calling 305.455.3380.
Upcoming Exhibitions at CIFO
From December 5, 2007 to February 17, 2008, CIFO will present Fortunate Objects: Selections from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection showcasing art that takes inspiration from seemingly ordinary, everyday objects. On view during the international art fair Art Basel Miami Beach, the exhibition will feature works by leading artists such as Ai Wei Wei, Damian Hirst and Jose Antonio Hernández-Diez. Ella Fontanals-Cisneros began collecting contemporary art in the 1970s, and today her collection includes important and cutting-edge pieces by some of the leading artists of our time. Collection highlights include photography by Barbara Kruger, Ana Mendieta, and Thomas Struth; abstract works by Barbara Hepworth, Jesús Soto, and Gego; and video installations by Bill Viola, Chantal Akerman, and Julian Rosenfedt.
Media in Miami contact:(English and Spanish) - museche@efcholdings.com
web site: www.cifo.org
“CIFO’s Grants Program not only offers vital support for emerging artists from Latin America, it also gives them a platform to present new work in the U.S.,” said CIFO’s Chief Curator, Cecilia Fajardo-Hill. “Through this exhibition, Miami residents and visitors can glimpse the cutting-edge art and artists that are changing our understanding of contemporary art from Latin America.”
Artists are nominated for the Grants Program by CIFO’s international Advisory Committee of leading artists, curators, and art professionals. The honorary committee invites submissions from emerging visual artists from Latin America who are working in various media and creating challenging and highly innovative work. CIFO’s selection committee announces the final winners after rigorous study of over 200 project proposals.
CIFO founder Ella Fontanals-Cisneros noted, “These artists each communicate a unique vision of contemporary art and are themselves becoming a part of the larger global art context. Our goal at CIFO is to help these artists grow, and offer opportunities for others to witness their groundbreaking work.”
CIFO’s 2007 grant recipients hail from different countries in Latin America and Europe and were selected not only for the merits of their artistic accomplishments, but also for the provocative and relevant nature of their project proposals. The artists featured in the exhibition are: Alberto Baraya (Colombia), Fredi Casco (Paraguay), Donna Conlon (Panama), Adriana García Galán (Colombia), Renata Lucas (Brazil), Luis Molina-Pantin (Venezuela), Angel Poyón (Guatemala), collaborators Cecilia Szalkowicz and Gastón Pérsico (Argentina), Emilio Valdés (Mexico), and Hector Zamora (Mexico).
While diverse in their artistic practices and perspectives, the selected artists have produced works for Positions in Context that are contextual and site-specific in nature. Several of the works involve the artists’ cultural, political and geographical contexts, while others entail a site-specific practice, involving the physical space as well as the viewer.
The exhibition includes: installations created in response to the CIFO Art Space; pieces that explore and challenge the limitations and conventions of museum and gallery spaces; reflections on the tradition of landscape and nature; work that investigates art culture within a global context; and three video installations that take on broader social issues. As a whole, Positions in Context reflects the artists’ perspectives on institutional space, the contemporary landscape, consumer culture, and the political arena. Like the artists themselves, the works are complex and contribute to a broad international contemporary discourse.
Now in their second year, CIFO’s Grants and Commissions programs provide critical funding and visibility for contemporary artists from Latin America, helping to broaden global appreciation of their work while challenging stereotypical notions of Latin American art. These programs and related exhibitions give artists from Latin America a new platform to show their work, and present them in the context of the international contemporary art community.
Related Exhibition ProgrammingOpening Reception
Thursday, September 20, 2007
7:00 – 10:00 pm
Gallery Talk with the Artists
Friday, September 21, 2007, 7:00 pm
Wynwood Second Saturdays - Extended Hours and Public Reception Saturday, October 13, 2007, 7:00 -10:00 pm
image 1: Emilio Valdés , “Who am I entering my old folk's house lonely and wasted with a black leather jacket on a saturday after dawn?” (THE REAL LIFE#2), (video still), 2007, Digital video
image 2: Hector Zamora, “Simulated Topographies”, Installation and photos, Variable dimensions, 2007
About CIFO
CIFO, the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, is a non-profit organization established in 2002 by Ella Fontanals-Cisneros and her family to foster cultural and educational exchange within the visual arts.
CIFO has three primary initiatives:
CIFO Art Space – a permanent venue for the presentation of engaging and provocative contemporary art exhibitions highlighting works from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection, works by CIFO grantees and commissioned artists, and experimental, challenging art programs;
Grants and Commissions Programs - supporting emerging and mid-career contemporary artists from Latin America; and
Foundation - initiated support for other arts and culture projects.
CIFO is located at 1018 North Miami Avenue. The galleries are open to the public Thursday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. or by appointment. Public information is available online at www.cifo.org or by calling 305.455.3380.
Upcoming Exhibitions at CIFO
From December 5, 2007 to February 17, 2008, CIFO will present Fortunate Objects: Selections from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection showcasing art that takes inspiration from seemingly ordinary, everyday objects. On view during the international art fair Art Basel Miami Beach, the exhibition will feature works by leading artists such as Ai Wei Wei, Damian Hirst and Jose Antonio Hernández-Diez. Ella Fontanals-Cisneros began collecting contemporary art in the 1970s, and today her collection includes important and cutting-edge pieces by some of the leading artists of our time. Collection highlights include photography by Barbara Kruger, Ana Mendieta, and Thomas Struth; abstract works by Barbara Hepworth, Jesús Soto, and Gego; and video installations by Bill Viola, Chantal Akerman, and Julian Rosenfedt.
Media in Miami contact:(English and Spanish) - museche@efcholdings.com
web site: www.cifo.org
