ZONA MACO 2020

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
Booth NP 2
Feb 5-9, 2020

Tony Vazquez-Figueroa has researched the theme of Modernism in Latin America for over a decade; studying its origins and influences, both positive and negative on the local population, and its particular aesthetic. Most prominently, he addresses the issue in Venezuela and how oil was and continues to be a crucial element that shapes this crisis-ridden society today.

For this project, Vazquez-Figueroa focuses on what he calls Spectacular Modernity: the ways in which the various Venezuelan governments of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s used the economic resources of the oil income to boost a National Aesthetic both in material — art and architecture — as well as with race, creating the beginning of a massive gentrification.

From the perspective of art in its different ramifications, Venezuela richly promoted the image created by a handful of avant-garde artists of the time, to project the impression of development and progress; some of them were European immigrants like Gego and Leufert, and others were — the grand majority — Venezuelan heirs of the aesthetics of the previous group and highly influenced by the ideas of the Bauhaus, such as Carlos Raul Villanueva, Cruz Diez, and Soto, who became the spearhead for large government projects, such as universities, airports, mega-pavilions at international fairs, national industries, and more.

In this way, Constructivism and Kineticism became Venezuela’s National Aesthetic, leaving aside a group of artists, such as Eugenio Espinoza and Claudio Perna, who in turn created the alternative and truly avant-garde movement. Regarding gentrification, the Pérez Jiménez government, for example, created and promoted incredibly robust European migration programs, as well as housing blocks for the impoverished population, and educational programs where new generations were indoctrinated into the European and North-American styles of behavior.

In Spectacular Modernity, Vazquez- Figueroa comments on how it is presently impossible to be an artist from Venezuela without referring to this past and this aesthetic. While some continue to manufacture mere kinetic derivatives without questioning their origins and much less their current relevance, the question and subject prevails with others to the point of fracture.

In this focus exhibition, Vazquez- Figueroa presents mirror boxes filled with the planet’s heaviest crude oil – bitumen – intervened with elements of Constructivism and Kineticism inherited from the keen perspective of Eugenio Espinoza; these boxes reflect and distort space and the spectator. A similar phenomenon resonates in the black mirror paintings with highly reflective resin. Vazquez-Figueroa also presents photographs of the period in question, intervened with resin — a reference to the oil of some of the mega projects realized during that time.

INSTALLATION VIEWS AND SELECTED WORKS

Black Mirror Painting / M3, 2020
acrylic, rubber, and resin on canvas
72 x 57 inches (183 x 145 cm)

Black Mirror Painting / G, 2018
acrylic and resin on paper
41 x 31 inches (104.14 x 78.74 cm)

Black Mirror Painting / M1, 2020
acrylic, resin, and rubber on canvas
43 x 31 inches (109.22 x 78.74 cm)

FVV_1, 2020
acrylic and polyurethane on canvas
10 x 8 inches (25.4 x 20.32 cm)

FVV_4, 2020
acrylic and polyurethane on canvas
10 x 8 inches (25.4 x 20.32 cm)

Black Mirror Box Five Lines III, 2020
bitumen in plexiglass
45 x 37 inches (88.9 x 71.12 cm)

Image of the Submodern, 2018
archival print with resin
edition of 3 (+2AP)
31 x 41 inches (78.74 x 104.14 cm)

Torre Simon Bolivar, 2019
archival print with resin
edition of 3 (+2AP)
39 x 35 inches (99.06 x 88.9 cm)

Archived Inventory, 2019
archival print with resin
edition of 3 + 2AP, suite of 18
6 x 4.5 inches each (15.24 x 11.43 cm each)

ZONA MACO 2020
Mexico City, Mexico

February 5-9, 2020
Booth NP2

Centro Citibanamex (Hall D)
Avenida del Conscripto 311, Lomas de Sotelo
Mexico City, Mexico

VIP Preview
Wednesday, February 5th from 4pm to 9pm
Opening Hours
Thursday, Feb 6th, 12pm-9pm
Friday, Feb 7th, 12pm-9pm
Saturday, Feb 8th, 12pm-9pm
Sunday, Feb 9th, 12pm-8pm

ARTIST PAGES