Sunday 12 October 2003

'TO BE POLITICAL IT HAS TO LOOK NICE' AN EXHIBITION BY PABLO LEON DE LA BARRA AT APEXART, NEW YORK















Exhibition views apexart





exhibition views Art in General


Stefan Bruggemann 'To Be Political It Has To Look Nice', 2003


Javier Tellez, 'Socle du Monde', 1999


Mauricio Guillen, 'Mi Casa es Tu Casa', keylock exhcange bethween his house and apexart, keys available for visitors to take away


Armando Andrade, 'Tropical Abstraction', 2003


Fernando Bryce, 'Guatemala', 2002


Erick Beltran, 'Fala! (Speak!)', 2002


Eduardo Consuegra, 'Calle 25, Carrera 5ta', 2003



Olho Sao Paulo, 'Galerias', 2002



Galeria Chilena 'Exquisite Corpse' 2003, and 'Logo' since 1997


Capacete, 'Publications', 2001-2003


El Chino, 'Publications', 2003


m777, 'Geopolio', 2001-2003


Beatriz Lopez, 'Siempre Vendran Tiempos Mejores', 2003


Miguel Calderon, 'Discipula del Velocimetro', 2002


El Vicio, 'Posesion Extraterrestre', 2000


Helena Producciones, 'Loop', 2002-2003


Carolina Caycedo, 'How to Get a British Passport', 2003


Sebastian Ramirez, 'Untitled (Spare Some Change/Automatic Beggar), 2003



Galeria Chilena, Informal sale of Galeria Chilena's catalogue outside of apexart



special appearance by Miguel Angel Rios, 'Line of Fire', spinning top and line of fire



Edgardo Larregui, 'Dr Recao Vegetable Soup', 2003



Felipe Mujica, Armando Andrade and Mauricio Guillen preparing Panamerican Ceviche





Pedro Reyes, 'Neuron Pinata' and strobe light



Los Super Elegantes, performance


crashing of exhibition by Instant Coffee trailer


Pedro Reyes


Carolina Caycedo


Stefan Bruggemann, Gael Garcia Bernal, Mauricio Guillen and friend



outside of the exhibition


Milena Muzquiz and Martiniano Lopez Crozet from Los Super Elegantes and Pablo Leon de la Barra leaving the exhibition

TO BE POLITICAL IT HAS TO LOOK NICE
a project by Pablo León de la Barra with Armando Andrade, B-Lo (Beatriz López), Erick Beltrán, Stefan Brüggemann, Fernando Bryce, Miguel Calderón/Papi Paga Productions, Capacete Entertainments, Carolina Caycedo/Day to Day, El Chino Ediciones, Eduardo Consuegra, Galería Chilena (Joe Villablanca, Felipe Mujica and Diego Fernández), Mauricio Guillén, Helena Producciones, Larregui-Laguerre, M777, Olho SP, Sebastián Ramírez, Pedro Reyes, Los Super Elegantes (Milena Muzquiz and Martiniano López-Crozet), Javier Téllez, and El Vicio.
With special appearances by Instant Coffee and Miguel Angel Ríos.

apexart, 291 church street, new york, ny
with a satellite embassy at art in general, 79 walker street, new york, ny
october 11 - november 8, 2003
opening reception: saturday, october 11, 5-10 PM at both spaces.
http://www.apexart.org/exhibitions/delabarra.php
info@apexart.org

“TO BE POLITICAL IT HAS TO LOOK NICE” presents some intersections and distinctions in recent contemporary cultural production from Latin America while questioning the stereotypes and clichés of what is normally understood as art from this region. Without pretending to represent any total overview, the works presented in the exhibition exist in the intersection between the political and the aesthetical, the cheap and the informal, the serious and the ironic; and they are informed more by their relation with their urban-socio-economical-political-cultural-linguistic context than with art historical production.

“TO BE POLITICAL IT HAS TO LOOK NICE” focuses on the work done by individual artists as well as by different collectives in their cities of origin or in the place they have adopted as home. “TO BE POLITICAL IT HAS TO LOOK NICE” functions as a momentary space of convergence and interchange for a constellation of practices related by their cultural, linguistic and geographic origin.

The works in the exhibition will be presented within a space which will resemble something like a tropical-anarchist social club, a momentary space of convergence for a constellation of practices, a free territory of informal exchange bridging the relation between art and real life; a place where works and ideas will be placed and displaced, and where events will or will not happen.

Opening Events/Sábado Gigante*:
(all events at apexart except where signaled)
5:00 PM Ribbon cutting and introductory welcome by Pablo Leon de la Barra
5.03PM Orientation and distribution of welcome drinks
5:30 PM Larregui/Laguerre's Puerto Rican relatives living in Brooklyn will prepare a soup with the medicine plants he sent from Puerto Rico (at art in general)
6:00 PM special appearance by Miguel Angel Rios
7:00 PM Pan American Ceviche.
7:30 PM Pedro Reyes Neuron Piñata
8:15 PM two songs by B-Lo (if she gets a visa)
9:00 PM performance by Los Super Elegantes
10:00 PM adjourn to Burrito Bar next door

* Sábado Gigante is a latino program hosted by Don Francisco, and transmitted since 1985 by Univisión to Latin America from Miami. It features artists singing, contests and prices. It is long and boring as hell, but also full of glitter, stars and excitement.

Informal Talks:
- Tuesday, October 14, 6:30 pm: Pablo León de la Barra, curator of the exhibition TBPIHTLN gives an informal talk on the exhibition and on the work he has been developing in London as co-director of 24/7 gallery also talk by talk by Carolina Caycedo "HOW TO GET A BRITISH PASSPORT"
- Wednesday, October 29, 6:30 pm: Video screening of the movies by El Vicio “Posesión Extraterrestre”, Helena “El Libro de Ultratumba” and Miguel Calderón “Discípula del Velocímetro” lead by Carlos Gutiérrez, co-founder and co-director, Cinema Tropical, NYC.
- Saturday November 1st, 6:30 pm: GCH/Galeria Chilena (Joe Villablanca, Felipe Mujica and Diego Fernández), talk about the work of GCH accompanied by a pisco sour bar.

read exhibition manifesto here