Jota Castro & Minerva Cuevas: “Art as Activism/Activism as Art”


Jota Castro is a contemporary artist who explores themes of social and political conflict through the mediums of photography, sculpture, video and installation. Minerva Cueves' socially engaged practice encompasses a range of strategies and media including film, installation, performance, and site-specific public intervention. 

 
DateTuesday, June 30, 2015 - 10:00pm

Cost

Free

Website

http://lacap.ca/?id=110

Location

OCAD University  100 McCaul St. Auditorium, Room 190

Co-Presented by Latin American-Canadian Art Projects (LACAP) and the Office of the President, OCAD University

JOTA CASTRO was born in Yurimaguas, Peru and cur­rently lives in Brus­sels, Bel­gium. Jota Castro is a contemporary artist who explores themes of social and political conflict through the mediums of photography, sculpture, video and installation. He curated and par­tic­i­pated in the event col­lat­eral to the 55th Bien­nale of Venice 2013 Emer­gency Pavil­ion: Rebuild­ing Utopia, took part in the col­lat­eral event to the 54th Bien­nale of Venice I Miss My Ene­mies, curated by Oxana Maleeva, and the 53rd Bien­nale of Venice 2009, The Fear Soci­ety, Pabel­lón de la Urgen­cia. He also par­tic­i­pated in the Bien­nale of Tirana, Prague and Kwangju, Korea win­ning the award at the lat­ter in 2004. Castro’s most recent exhibitions include: Gemut­lichkeit, at Gal­le­ria Umberto di Marino (2013); Trame curated by Mas­simo Minini, Ste­fano Rai­mondi, Mauro Zanchi, in the Basil­ica di Santa Maria Mag­giore, Berg­amo; Tell me whom you haunt: Mar­cel Duchamp and the con­tem­po­rary ready­made curated by Mario Codog­nato, Blain Southern, Lon­don; solo exhibition Aus­ter­ity Über Alles at Galerie Bar­bara Thumm, Berlin; Una Sto­ria Con­tem­po­ranea, Gal­le­ria Mas­simo Minini, Bres­cia; I West End? Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem; among many others. In 2011, he curated Dublin Con­tem­po­rary Ter­ri­ble Beauty: Art, Cri­sis, Change & The Office of Non-Compliance, along with Chris­t­ian Viveros-Fauné. Jota Castro is a political science graduate, former student of the College of Europe in Bruges who worked for the UN and the EU. He has devoted himself completely to contemporary art for the past 17 years.

MINERVA CUEVAS graduated with a BFA from the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma, Mexico City in 1997. Her socially engaged practice encompasses a range of strategies and media including film, installation, performance, and site-specific public intervention. One of Cuevas’s best-known works is the long-term project Better Life Corporation (Mejor Vida Corp., 1998– ), which evolved from her public interventions in Mexico City. Part pseudo-corporation, part non-profit organization, the project revolves around a website that offers a range of public services including the provision of special bar codes to reduce the cost of food items at supermarkets, personalized fake student ID cards, and free phone calls. Cuevas has had major solo exhibitions at the Vienna Secession (2002); DAAD Galerie, Berlin (2004); Casa del Lago, Mexico City (2006); Kunsthalle Basel (2007); Le Grand Café – Centre d’art Contemporain, Saint-Nazarie, France (2007); Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands (2008); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2009); Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City (2010); Cornerhouse, Manchester (2011); and Museo de la Ciudad de México (2012). Her work has also been included in group exhibitions at Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City (1998); Hayward Gallery, London (2000); Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent (2001); MoMA PS1, New York (2002); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2003); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2008); Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2010); and the Modern Art Museum of Forth Worth (2013). Cuevas’s work was also included in the Istanbul Biennial (2003); São Paulo Biennial (2006); and Mercosul Biennial, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2007). She received grants from the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) in 2003 and the Fondo Nacional para cultura y las Artes in 1999. Her work is held in the collection of the Tate, UNAM, Mexico City and Van Abbé Museum, Eindhoven.

Moderated by Gerardo Mosquera.

DateTuesday, June 30, 2015 - 10:00pm

Cost

Free

Website

http://lacap.ca/?id=110

Location

OCAD University  100 McCaul St. Auditorium, Room 190

Pink logo with a white microphone
Black and white photograph of a man wearing glasses
Black and white photograph of a woman
Tuesday, June 30, 2015 - 10:00pm

Co-Presented by Latin American-Canadian Art Projects (LACAP) and the Office of the President, OCAD University

JOTA CASTRO was born in Yurimaguas, Peru and cur­rently lives in Brus­sels, Bel­gium. Jota Castro is a contemporary artist who explores themes of social and political conflict through the mediums of photography, sculpture, video and installation. He curated and par­tic­i­pated in the event col­lat­eral to the 55th Bien­nale of Venice 2013 Emer­gency Pavil­ion: Rebuild­ing Utopia, took part in the col­lat­eral event to the 54th Bien­nale of Venice I Miss My Ene­mies, curated by Oxana Maleeva, and the 53rd Bien­nale of Venice 2009, The Fear Soci­ety, Pabel­lón de la Urgen­cia. He also par­tic­i­pated in the Bien­nale of Tirana, Prague and Kwangju, Korea win­ning the award at the lat­ter in 2004. Castro’s most recent exhibitions include: Gemut­lichkeit, at Gal­le­ria Umberto di Marino (2013); Trame curated by Mas­simo Minini, Ste­fano Rai­mondi, Mauro Zanchi, in the Basil­ica di Santa Maria Mag­giore, Berg­amo; Tell me whom you haunt: Mar­cel Duchamp and the con­tem­po­rary ready­made curated by Mario Codog­nato, Blain Southern, Lon­don; solo exhibition Aus­ter­ity Über Alles at Galerie Bar­bara Thumm, Berlin; Una Sto­ria Con­tem­po­ranea, Gal­le­ria Mas­simo Minini, Bres­cia; I West End? Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem; among many others. In 2011, he curated Dublin Con­tem­po­rary Ter­ri­ble Beauty: Art, Cri­sis, Change & The Office of Non-Compliance, along with Chris­t­ian Viveros-Fauné. Jota Castro is a political science graduate, former student of the College of Europe in Bruges who worked for the UN and the EU. He has devoted himself completely to contemporary art for the past 17 years.

MINERVA CUEVAS graduated with a BFA from the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma, Mexico City in 1997. Her socially engaged practice encompasses a range of strategies and media including film, installation, performance, and site-specific public intervention. One of Cuevas’s best-known works is the long-term project Better Life Corporation (Mejor Vida Corp., 1998– ), which evolved from her public interventions in Mexico City. Part pseudo-corporation, part non-profit organization, the project revolves around a website that offers a range of public services including the provision of special bar codes to reduce the cost of food items at supermarkets, personalized fake student ID cards, and free phone calls. Cuevas has had major solo exhibitions at the Vienna Secession (2002); DAAD Galerie, Berlin (2004); Casa del Lago, Mexico City (2006); Kunsthalle Basel (2007); Le Grand Café – Centre d’art Contemporain, Saint-Nazarie, France (2007); Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands (2008); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2009); Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City (2010); Cornerhouse, Manchester (2011); and Museo de la Ciudad de México (2012). Her work has also been included in group exhibitions at Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City (1998); Hayward Gallery, London (2000); Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent (2001); MoMA PS1, New York (2002); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2003); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2008); Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2010); and the Modern Art Museum of Forth Worth (2013). Cuevas’s work was also included in the Istanbul Biennial (2003); São Paulo Biennial (2006); and Mercosul Biennial, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2007). She received grants from the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) in 2003 and the Fondo Nacional para cultura y las Artes in 1999. Her work is held in the collection of the Tate, UNAM, Mexico City and Van Abbé Museum, Eindhoven.

Moderated by Gerardo Mosquera.

Venue & Address: 
OCAD University  100 McCaul St. Auditorium, Room 190
Website: 
http://lacap.ca/?id=110
Cost: 
Free
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