DaWire

Jason Mena, untitled (destruction is no longer an uncalculated event), digital print on tempered glass, used tires and paper, 2010

For his first major solo show at Luis Adelantado Gallery in Valencia, Spain, Jason Mena constructs a visually engaging landscape that ranges from discarded tires to sublime skyscapes. The exhibition, titled We all shall play in the ruins, displays a sense of faux urgency arising from current events, reflecting on subjects such as destruction, waste, pollution and its paradoxically sublime effects. Transforming a seemingly ugly and distasteful object or image into a thing of beauty seems to be Mena’s predominant predilection.[...]

Quisqueya Henriquez, A Heap of Paradise  2007. PVC tubes and rubber, dimensions variable, each of 40 tubes is 115 inches long by 1 inch wide. Image courtesy of David Castillo Gallery.

There are few women artists from the Caribbean islands that approach conceptual art with Caribbean flavor such as Quisqueya Henriquez. Drawing from a heavily researched art historical context, Henriquez creates works that provide a critical perspective on gender, regional clichés and ethnic stereotypes, with a sophisticated and elegant aesthetic.[...]

Carlos Amorales (in collaboration with André Pahl), Logo for Juárez Project, 2006

Guns, narcos, prostitutes, rape, murders, these are some of the most common images that the media utilizes to portray Ciudad Juárez. Once considered an attractive city, in recent decades Ciudad Juárez has become synonym with violent crimes and terror. As an artist residency program, Proyecto Juárez started as an independent initiative in an attempt to approach the socioeconomic changes of the border city; commissioning artworks that considered the context of the city while benefitting from the help of local institutions and the community.[...]

HORROR 1.1, Performance photo- cibachrome, 79 x 119 cm.

I first met Steve Schepens about a year ago, when I wrote a review of one his HORROR shows for Artpulse Magazine. I love works that deal with space, so inevitably I was fascinated with Steve’s works and performances. Space as impenetrable and the invisible are main subjects of his work. For the occasion of his current show at Galerie Baronian_Francey in Brussels, I had a conversation with Steve about his work and a controversial performance that mixes in Tourette’s Syndrome.[...]

Aby Ruiz, La ley  2010. Oil and spray paint on canvas. Image courtesy of the artist.

Sea un Payaso, at the Arecibo Museum of Art and History in Puerto Rico, gathers new paintings and drawings by artist Aby Ruíz, where he continues to pursue an ample exploration of the clown as an entertaining but deceitful character. Ruíz uses a combination of oil, acrylic and spray paint on canvas to produce his works. In them, the clown is displayed in its typical attire and makeup, but something in their regard evokes sinister sentiments.

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How do you remain uncommercialized in an increasingly commercialized space? A very difficult question when it comes to the business of art.  Some lean toward shock value, the status quo, or cleverness, while others choose to continue to expand the boundaries of intellectual and creative integrity on behalf of artists and audiences. The Gallery at 1GAP (One Grand Army Plaza), an alternative contemporary art space, mediated by curator Isolde Brielmaier, offers up a site based on the latter.[...]

Derrick Adams, ‘sometimes i just don’t feel like myself’. Installation and performance. Courtesy of Collette Blanchard, New York.

The first words out of my mouth as I picked up Derrick Adams from the Floridian condo on West Avenue was ‘Man, that shirt is totally Kehinde Wiley!’ He laughed and agreed that the bright, Oriental-type floral pattern reminded us both of his friend’s aristocratic renderings of urban youths amongst Victorian wallpapers. “Yeah! Especially since he just came back from China.” Thus began an afternoon packed with art world theory and rants regarding some of the beauteous and bestial personalities we’d both encountered thus far in the commercial art sphere.[...]

Abraham Cruzvillegas, Untitled 2010. Wood, beer caps, bulbs, roots, fabric, iron Variable dimensions. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Chantal Crousel Photo : Florian Kleinefenn

“It is necessary to be an artist in order to be a citizen” – Raqs Collective, 2010.

Abraham Cruzvillegas, on his recent exhibition at Galerie Chantal Crousel, draws from his experience living in Paris to speak to the contradictory fragments that compose an almost intangible personal identity. The artist approaches three and a half years living in the Parisian city, by focusing on a middle point between time and space. That moment where one’s sensations begin to arise and a personal narrative is constructed. In its entirety, the exhibition functions similar to an assemblage that investigates the cultural hybridity of the artist and the city in question.[...]

Alexandre Arrechea – Metropolitan Tower 2010

A former member of the collective Los Carpinteros, Alexandre Arrechea has been carving his own niche in the contemporary art radar since leaving the group in 2003. And his work is definitely being noticed. Last March, he showed a large-scale public art project in Times Square titled Black Sun, a 3D animated wrecking ball that continuously hit the NASDAQ Billboard. His work deals with our obsession with control, surveillance systems and the power structures.

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Donna Conlon – Urban Phantoms 2004 (Video Still). In front of the skyline of Panamá City, pieces of trash build up to construct a new city.

Originally trained as a biologist, Donna Conlon‘s work entails a meticulous observation of both natural and manmade surroundings. The environment, be it social, cultural or biological, is the main focus of her work. In some works, such as the video Coexistence, the natural and artificial world collide, as Conlon films ants carrying fake leaves painted as different flags and peace signs.[...]