September 21 – December 17, 2006
LACE, in partnership with the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) at Harvard University, is proud to present an exhibition of recent photographs and video by Venezuelan artist Alexander Apóstol. The exhibition, curated by Bill Kelley, Jr., features two large-scale photographic series-Residente Pulido and Residente Pulido, Ranchos-as well as new video work. The exhibition will premiere at LACE in September 2006 and run through December 2006. The exhibition will then travel to Harvard University under the sponsorship of the David Rockefeller Latino and Latin American Art Forum.
Bill Kelley, Jr. writes of Apóstols work: “In a post-identity world, where subjective memories and histories now take on a more important role, discussions around urbanism carry a gentrifying signpost while, ironically enough, investing the city with new political and discursive possibilities.” Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Apóstol contrasts the city’s cultural environment with some of the utopian ideals that have shaped its architecture in order to consider the connecting threads between place and time, history and actuality. As Apóstol re-appropriates, re-contextualizes, and sometimes even digitally manipulates images of Modernist edifices in a current state of dilapidation, he attempts to reconcile the ideological failings of the past with the socio-political and economic realities of the present. In a city like Los Angeles, where early 20th century urban planning now forces us into unique patterns of metropolitan life, this type of thoughtful investigation is a key process in understanding our local environment.
RELATED PROGRAMS
Thursday 21 September 2006 | 7:30pm
Conversation with Alexander Apóstol, Bill Kelley, Jr. and José Falconi at LACE
Saturday 23 September 2006 | 8pm
Conversation with Alexander Apóstol and Teddy Cruz at Estación Tijuana, Tijuana, Mexico José Maria Larroque 271, 3rd floor, Colonia Federal, Tijuana BC, Mexico
LACE’s ongoing Salon Series features artists’ talks, colloquiums, and other participatory activities to encourage cultural exchange between artists, curators, critics and our general public. In conjunction with Alexander Apóstol, LACE is planning Video Dialogs, a series of three responsive video screenings on 13 October, 17 November, and 1 December. All inspired by the exhibit, each video response will be organized by a different artist or curator.
BIOGRAPHIES
Alexander Apóstol was born in Venezuela in 1969 and now lives in Madrid. He has had solo exhibitions in Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, and the United States, and his work has appeared in numerous group shows throughout Latin America, Europe and the United States. He has been artist-in-residence at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Maracay, Venezuela, and in 1991 he received the Young Artist/AICA award from the International Association of Art Critics in Caracas. Apóstol’s photographic oeuvre consists largely of archetypal cultural images that he re-contextualizes in order to construct alternative histories and narratives for his camera’s subjects.
With sixteen years of art-related experience behind him, Bill Kelley, Jr. works as an educator and independent curator and critic. He received his Master’s degree in 19th Century Colonial Art Studies from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque in 2001. He has worked at such Los Angeles-area institutions as LACE, the Museum of Latin American Art, and the J. Paul Getty Museum, and he currently teaches art history courses at California State University, Los Angeles. He is also the former Director and current Editorial Advisor of LatinArt.com, an online journal that coordinates lecture series, artist interviews, international programming and coverage of events pertaining to Latin American and Latino art. Kelley is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Contemporary Theory and Criticism from the University of California, San Diego.
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Project support for Alexander Apóstol comes from the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO), Estación Tijuana, Henrique Faria Fine Art, and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University.
Download Apóstol press release.
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