La Quiñonera
Santa Cruz 111 Col. Candelaria,
Coyoacán, D.F., Mexico
(Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo de México DF). Curators organized a retrospective based
on the spaces created, and innovative proposals put forth by Mexican artists during the 1980′s and 90′s such as
La Quiñonera, Temistocles 44, and La Panaderia. The exhibition is a review of projects and artists who passed
through those spaces and the work they produced. In conjunction, Nestor Quiñones organized the exhibition
“Espacios Flexibles” in collaboration with Anonymous Gallery (New York) and La Curtiduria (Oaxaca)
to give continuity to La Quiñonera as an exhibition space in parallel with the MUAC program.
Since the 1980's, La Quiñonera, has been one of the most emblematic spaces of the Mexican art scene.
Located in Coyoacan, in the south of Mexico City, this rambling house and its gardens have hosted and
inspired multiple creative experimentations from diverse, and well known artists like
Francis Alys, Gabriel Orozco, Teresa Margolles, Grupo Semefo, Mónica Castillo, Boris Viskin and Gabriel Macotela,
as well as iconic Mexican bands such as Santa Sabina & Caifanes.
This independent space is still providing a platform for artistic works that involve a
conscientious posture and critical analysis of the social and political problematic.
While reflecting on Anonymous Gallery’s New York, 2008 inauguratory project and exhibition
with Eltono and Momo titled PLAF, and taking advantage of the fact that the artist was passing
through Mexico on his way to the US, it felt appropriate to invite Eltono to participate in the
gallery’s first public project in Mexico City
Eltono's (1975) affinity for unusual resources and abandon materials give
his work absolute freedom. Derived from classical graffiti writing, Eltono has developed
a unique form of abstract minimalism that has led to outdoor projects for the Tate Modern
in London, gallery shows in 12 countries, and the Liverpool Biennial to name a few. He works
to define and emphasize gaps in public space, countering the posters, advertising and signs
that are imposed, almost with force, to the eyes of urban pedestrians. In this context,
his paintings propose a kind of visual rest, they do not sell or order anything, they
only exist in aesthetic and composition, questioning mass communication.
They are an open door to observation and free interpretation.
Interview with Eltono here :
http://societeperrier.com/mexico-city/articles/el-tono-pinta-mexico/
ArtNews feature:
http://www.artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=3158
More images and information here:
http://anonymousgallery.com/art/2011/06/espacios-flexibles-mexico-df/
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