Part one is sold out. A standby line will form one hour before the program begins.
This event will be live-streamed.
In recent decades, a significant number of scholarly projects have been devoted to the study and exhibition of concrete and kinetic art from South America. Likewise an array of books, academic theses, and exhibitions, produced both within the region and abroad, have enabled a growing understanding and heightened visibility of one of the richest artistic periods in the region.
The works included in the exhibition Sur moderno: Journeys of Abstraction—The Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Gift, and the sustained scholarship that has been produced around them, have been at the center of this expanding field. Organized as part of MoMA’s celebration of a major gift from Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, the symposium seeks to build on questions around the perception of South American art, focusing on the intellectual frameworks that characterize our ever-changing present.
The symposium approaches this goal with two points of emphasis. On the one hand, it will explore how contemporary theoretical and political positions are expanding the ways in which these artistic movements are studied, bringing to the foreground aspects of the modern movement that were hitherto elided. The tensions and dilemmas between internationalism and vernacular traditions; the relationships between abstract movements and the promises of development as seen from today’s environmental humanities; and the complexities of gender politics in modern South America are some of the topics that will be discussed by a group of distinguished scholars and artists. On the other hand, the symposium will seek to understand how key ideas developed by modern South American artists drifted toward contemporary practices and disciplines that at the same time use, expand, and dispute their legacy. Through conferences and short virtual presentations by contemporary artists, we hope to feature the multiple afterlives of geometric abstraction, emphasizing these artistic languages’ continuing formal and conceptual impact.
The symposium takes place over two days, at The Museum of Modern Art and Columbia University. The program is free, but tickets are required. Part one is now sold out. Will-call tickets will be available to be picked up from the Cullman Education and Research Building starting at 4:30 p.m. on the day of the program. For free events, we overbook to ensure a full house. All unclaimed seats are released shortly before start time, and a standby line will form one hour before the program. For part two, at Columbia University, you can reserve tickets online.
Part One
Thursday, February 6, 2020, 5:30–8:30 p.m.
MoMA, The Celeste Bartos Theater
Inés Katzenstein introduces the program
Paulo Herkenhoff in conversation with Glenn D. Lowry
Lisa Blackmore
“Art and Infrastructure: Circulatory Environments”
María Amalia García
“Vernacular Readings of South American Abstraction from the 1950s”
Conversation between María Amalia García and Lisa Blackmore, moderated by Mónica Amor
Video contributions by artists Rosana Paulino, Marcelo Pombo, and Fernanda Gomes
Isaac Julien
Lina Bo Bardi – A Marvellous Entanglement
Isaac Julien in conversation with Inés Katzenstein
Part Two
Friday, February 7, 2020, 1:00–5:00 p.m.
Columbia University, The Lantern, Lenfest Center for the Arts
Alexander Alberro introduces the program
Inés Katzenstein introduces the exhibition Sur moderno: Journeys of Abstraction—The Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Gift
Video contributions by artists Alexander Apóstol, Ricardo Basbaum, and Mariela Scafati
Kaira Cabañas
“Toward a Common Configurative Impulse”
Cecilia Fajardo-Hill
“Her Abstraction: Other Abstractions”
Conversation between Kaira Cabañas, Cecilia Fajardo-Hill, and Irene V. Small
Barry Bergdoll
“Carlos Raúl Villanueva: Reconfiguring the Spectator in Architectural Space”
Karin Schneider and Nicolás Guagnini, Union Gaucha Productions
Phantom Limb
Barry Bergdoll, Karin Schneider and Nicolás Guagnini in conversation with Alexander Alberro
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En las últimas décadas, una cantidad importante de proyectos académicos y curatoriales se han dedicado a la investigación y exhibición de arte concreto y cinético de América del Sur. Del mismo modo, una variedad de libros, tesis y exposiciones, producidas tanto en la región como en el extranjero, han permitido un mejor entendimiento y una mayor visibilidad sobre uno de los períodos artísticos más ricos de la región.
Las obras incluidas en la exposición Sur moderno: Trayectorias de la abstracción — La donación Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, y el trabajo de investigación que tuvo lugar en torno a ella, están en el centro de este campo en expansión. Organizado como parte de la celebración del MoMA frente a la donación de la Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, el simposio se propone ahondar en el estudio del arte sudamericano desde la perspectiva de los marcos intelectuales centrales a nuestro presente.
Con ese propósito, el simposio pondrá énfasis en dos puntos principales. Por un lado, explorará cómo las posturas teóricas y políticas contemporáneas están expandiendo las perspectivas de estudio de estos movimientos artísticos, poniendo de relieve aspectos del movimiento moderno que hasta ahora permanecían relegados. Entre los temas que discutirá un grupo de distinguidos académicos y artistas se encuentran las tensiones y dilemas entre el internacionalismo y las tradiciones vernáculas, las relaciones entre movimientos abstractos y las promesas de desarrollo vistas desde las humanidades ambientales, y las complejidades de las políticas de género en la América del Sur moderna. Por otro lado, el simposio buscará comprender cómo las ideas desarrolladas por los artistas sudamericanos modernos derivaron hacia prácticas y disciplinas contemporáneas que al mismo tiempo usan, expanden y disputan ese legado. A través de conferencias y breves presentaciones virtuales de artistas contemporáneos, esperamos mostrar las múltiples formas en que la abstracción geométrica sigue vigente, y evidenciar el sostenido impacto formal y conceptual de estos lenguajes artísticos.
El simposio tendrá lugar durante dos días consecutivos en The Museum of Modern Art y en Columbia University. El programa es gratuito, pero se requieren entradas. Para la primera parte, en MoMA, las entradas están disponibles en línea, y podrán ser retiradas en el Cullman Education and Research Building el día del evento a partir de las 4:30 p.m. Para la segunda parte, en Columbia University, puede reservar entradas en línea.
Sur moderno: New Perspectives on South American Abstraction and Its Legacies is jointly organized by the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Institute for the Study of Art from Latin America at The Museum of Modern Art, and the Art History and Archeology Department at Columbia University, in conjunction with the exhibition Sur moderno: Journeys of Abstraction—The Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Gift.
The event is organized by Inés Katzenstein, curator of Latin American Art and director of the Cisneros Institute at MoMA, María Amalia García, consulting curator for Sur moderno: Journeys of Abstraction—The Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Gift, and Alexander Alberro, Virginia Bloedel Wright Professor of Art History at Barnard College and Columbia University.
Part one is organized by the Cisneros Institute in collaboration with MoMA’s Department of Education.
Sur moderno: Nuevas perspectivas sobre la abstracción sudamericana y sus legados está co-organizado por el Instituto Patricia Phelps de Cisneros para el Estudio del Arte de América Latina en The Museum of Modern Art y el Departamento de Historia del Arte y Arqueología de Columbia University, en conexión con la exposición Sur moderno: Trayectorias de la abstracción — La donación de Patricia Phelps de Cisneros.
El evento está organizado por Inés Katzenstein, curadora de arte latinoamericano y directora del Instituto Cisneros en el MoMA; María Amalia García, curadora consultora para Sur moderno y Alexander Alberro, profesor Virginia Bloedel Wright de historia del arte en Barnard College y Columbia University.
La primera parte está organizada por el Instituto Cisneros en colaboración con el Departamento de Educación del MoMA.
Volkswagen of America is proud to be MoMA’s lead partner of education.
Major support for Adult and Academic Programs is provided by the Estate of Susan Sabel.
Generous funding is provided by endowments established by Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro, The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art, Walter and Jeanne Thayer, and by the gifts of Alan Kanzer. Additional support is provided by the Annual Education Fund.