14 Jul 2009

Leopoldo Maler at Mac Puerto Rico: Otras Intoxicaciones

LEOPOLDO MALER: OTRAS INTOXICACIONES
at the Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary Art
June 25 – September 20, 2009

'Everything that I do isn't to make the viewers react, but, on the contrary, to make them sit and reflect. As passively as possible. A viewer who contemplates, in a situation of contemplation similar to that which you find when you go to a temple.'
- Leopoldo Maler

OTRAS INTOXICACIONES, an ambitious exhibition of works by conceptual artist Leopoldo Maler, will be on view at the Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary Art. Curated by Marianne Ramírez Aponte, the exhibition features seminal pieces in the artist's development, including performance, installations and pictorial work, executed from 1971 to the present.

Maler will open the exhibition with 15 Respuestas Ingrávidas, a performance first realized at the Casa de Bastidas in the Dominican Republic in 1987. Suspended from a chair approximately three-story high, Maler responds to fifteen questions from the audience. The answers, which have been previously recorded, are verbalized through speakers. Simultaneously, a sign language performer creates a visual translation of the recorded voice. At the same time, a trumpeter hidden behind Maler plays a note when he considers the question too banal. In this game, Maler chooses to hold a dialogue about art conducted with the same systemic approach that determines the creative process: chance.

Also on view will be other forms of conceptual expressions that have defined Maler's prodigious career - installations and street actions. Among the six mesmerizing works re-created in the exhibition is Metrobolismo, a project executed in 2005 in the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico. For this project, Maler presented an urban choreography of white, red, and yellow vehicles. While a local radio station transmitted instructions on the precise movement of the cars, TV camera teams onboard a helicopter documented the event and broadcasted it live. The playful proposal is sought as a visual metaphor of urban metabolism.

In Primer Testimonio, 1974, another highlight of the exhibition, Maler presents an editorial room filled with old Underwood typewriters that utter flames in the place of words. With this political piece, the artist pays homage to his uncle, who practiced journalism and 'disappeared' during the military dictatorship in Argentina.

In addition to these experimental pieces, the exhibition presents a selection of complex mixed media assemblages, often characterized by their inventiveness and use of simple and everyday materials.

This remarkable ensemble offers a unique opportunity to explore Maler's creative genius and contribution to the development of the contemporary experimental art scene, while highlighting the issues and practices that have remained constant throughout his career: reflections on life and death, topics of political history and social realities triggered by events in certain Latin American countries, notion of time and space, the use of technology to assault the senses and the concept of the viewer's role and his subjective perception.

Born in Argentina, Maler moved to London in 1961, where he started to experiment with his new ideas about mixed media, integrating films into sculptures and installations. In 1977 he was granted a Guggenheim fellowship and moved to New York. Maler has represented Argentina in the XIV International Biennial of Sao Paulo - where he received the First Grand Prix - and in the 1986 Venice Biennale. He has exhibited extensively throughout the world, including the Centre George Pompidou, Paris; Hayward Galleries, London; Palazzo Grassi, Venice; and Hara Museum, Tokyo. His works are in major museums worldwide.

PLACE: Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary Art, Ave. Juan Ponce de León, esquina Ave. Roberto H. Todd, Parada 18, Santurce, PR
HOURS: 10:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; noon to 4:00 p.m. Sunday. Admission Free.
FURTHER INFORMATION: Evita Busa, 787-977-4030, ext. 228; Ana Maria de la Ossa, 212-888-3550.

Leopoldo Maler is represented by Nohra Haime Gallery, 41 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10022
Contact: Ana Maria de la Ossa - gallery@nohrahaimegallery.com