10 Jan 2012

Mario Gutiérrez Cru: CityWORDS - MADRID

CityWORDS: How we can define cities with words?

How can we defined the meaning of a city in one word?, reflexions, fellings, manners, happiness, oppressions.
How we can simplify a cartography in a path, in a simple walk from one point to other, from a letter to other, through all the lineas than form a letter, all the streets than form a city. A city made to our measure, made ​to our word.

Words, concepts, to define a city are hundred, probably thousends, always diferent for who asked, in what moment of their life, economic, sentimental, personal...

There aren´t the only owrds, there aren´t a statistics, no, it´s more intime, more natural. It´s only question to a citizen of each cities that have a relationship with the artist.

The selected words, had a unification social, politic, economic.

When you make a tour through the city, in a edge view, like a bird´s eye, you meet with the citizens, the places, the manners. You made a drift with a logical idea, without seing the tipic places, the essentials of the cities.

It´s more a poetic cartography.
If we adds to the typografic context a scene, a person that steadily and proud city with a black flag. Without a text, without a mark, a party, a claim, a protest. No, just a pole and flag.
This idea comes from passed works, in witch the artist tired of the excess of information, brands, borders, protests, decided to delete them. He begins to cross out the newspapers that found in its path. Continue to remove, after his previous photographic documentation, information, advertisements cities... With this double game between censorship and simplicity.
Finally, the process continues and is what leads to this final process, simplify flags, simplifying countries, borders, anthems.
The 'Black' of the unification, the black of the united colors, of the negations of the nationals flags. Without any relationship to the Anarchist of the last century.

This exhibition is a poetic cartography of 5 cities, that have the correlation of the 5 cities that the artist have visited ex-proccess in the last mounths of 2011. Cities where he live, collaborate o visit.
The exhibition began with a big videoprojection of a vertical video of a Black Flag, modify from the backgrounds of the places that have been filmed, institutionals buildings.

The exhibition could be completed with 5 photografies of each cities, where the black unifies all.

Three screens or projections present the performances made in each cities.

Three visions:
1. The performance filmed from a cameraman show the action.
2. A map show the path.
3. A camera located in the top of the flag show the path and the past.

And maps shows the relation between cities and selected words.

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Cities:

LISBOA - CRISIS
09 nov 2011. 10.000 ft. 3km

The first performance I made it in Lisboa, for the Festival IMERGÊNCIA 2011, the word selected was CRISIS.

mariogutierrezcru.blogspot.com/2011/10/acao-no-lisboa-para-festival-imergencia.html

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BREDA - TUSSEN
8 December 2011. 12h. 3,5 km

For Breda in Netherlands the word is TUSSEN, that means 'in between'. Nor big neither small, nor much at north, neither at South, not expensive neither cheap. In between nothing and everything.

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BRUSSELS - LANGUES
11 december 2011. 12h. 4,2 km

Again I asked to citizen how they can defined their city and said me 'Language War', that we can simplify like 'LANGUES', where French, English &Flemish coexist and fight to that the POWER.

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BERLIN - GENTRIFIZIERUNG
20 December 2011. 11.45-16h. 13.6 km

The most famous word in all the Berlin´s citizens would be MAUER (wall), but the people remake the city and the East isn´t now the paradise of the cheapest, 'Gentrificação: colonização urbana e instrumentalização da cultura', like been defined by my friends LeftHandRotation, the terrytory in´t other thing that especulation to make money and revalue a area.

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MADRID - INCERTIDUMBRE
28 December 2011. 15.45-18h. 8 km

How can we define a city always in change, full of cultures, posibilities, dreams, fears, right-wing policies. As always, I asked how we can define the city of Madrid, in the actuals times, with one word. The answer was INCERTIDUMBRE, (uncertainty), And with this word I will make a path in my city, and teh city of my parents. Without knowing what future holds.

The performance would begin at Puerta del Sol, km 0 at 12.30 a.m.

With the collaboration of Beatriu Marcos. Photos and Video.


WHAT:
Solo Exhibition of Mario Gutiérrez Cru in Galería La Zúa.
Show that present the itinerant project CityWORDS made in Lisbon, Breda, Brussels, Berlin & Madrid. Performance, videos, photographies, sounds and maps.

WHEN:
27/01/2012 - 27/02/2012
And after in all the countries of the project.

WHERE:
Galería La Zúa.
C/ Luisa Fernanda, 19. Madrid. Timetable: M-F. 18:00 a 21:00 hrs. S . 11:00 a 14:30 y 18:00 a 21:00. D. (Previous call)
info@galerialazua.com // Tel. - Fax. +34 915474086 Mob. +34 652065034 // Skype. galeria_la_zua

PRESS:
Photographies

CITIES:
> Lisbon, Breda, Brussels, Berlin and Madrid
> Crisis, InBetween, Languages, Gentrification, Uncertainty

WHO
Mario Gutiérrez Cru. Madrid, Spain. 1979.
Graduated in Fine Arts University UPV (Spain), artist, curator and creative.

Develops as an artist since 2002 works with the concept of 'Passages' and its relation with the space and time in single pieces, video installations, sound installations and interactive.
Recently works with the idea of vigilance, for your own security and city maps drifts.

His work has been seen in solo and collective exhibitions in Spain, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Austia, México, Perú, Brasil, Cuba, Domincan Republic.

International Spaces: IDFX Foundation, Festival INTERFERENCE, Breda-Netherlands; Spain Cultural Center, Dominican Republic; Contemporary Art Museum of Oaxaca-MACO, México; ARAD Museum, Romania, Le Syndicat Potentiel, Strasbourg, France; Correios Cultural Center, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil; Chateu Carreras Museum, Buenos Aires, Argentine, El Globo de Juan#2, Braga, Portugal; Coutures Festival, Strasbourg, France; Fábrica Braço do Plata, RD48-51, Encontro IMERGENCIA, Lisboa, Portugal; Telefónica Foundation, Lima, Perú.

National spaces or festivals: Contemporary Art Museum of Madrid. C. C. Conde Duque. Madrid; C.C.C.B., Barcelona; BBVA Foundation, Bilbao; CajaGRANADA Foundation, Granada; CajaSur Foundation, Jaén; Young Art Certer of Madrid, Spain; Madrid Tentation Festival, Casa de vacas, Retiro Madrid; Optica Festival, Gijón; Scarpia VI, Córdoba; LOOP Festival, Barcelona; Canal de Isabel II, Madrid; MEM Festival, Bilbao;

LINKS & SUPPORT

Project supported by IDFX Foundation, KREÆ, Contemporary Creation Institute, Galería La Zúa and TalentusArt.

+ info:
www.mapearciudades.com
www.mariogutierrez.com
www.youtube.com/mariogcru
mariogutierrezcru.blogspot.com