Tania Candiani, studio for Cromática, 2015
Tania Candiani: Cromática
February 8, 2020 – August 15, 2020
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Extended through August 15
Curated by Blanca de la Torre
516 ARTS is pleased to present Cromática, a solo exhibition by Mexican artist Tania Candiani. Making its debut in the United States after originating in Oaxaca then traveling to Guadalajara, Hermosillo and Ciudad Juárez, the exhibition explores color, sound, and synesthesia—a condition in which one sense is simultaneously perceived by different senses. Known for her interdisciplinary approaches that collaboratively mine fields of research and production—both artisanal and industrial—her work navigates the intersections of art, design, sound, architecture, and science. She says, “I am intrigued by the way in which visions of scientific and technological progress entail ideas about collective futures, public expectations and the common good. And in that sense, how your notions are constantly evolving, not only in terms of technology but also culturally. It seems pertinent to look at the past in a kind of archeology of that knowledge, to observe the possibilities of the future.”
Throughout Cromática, Candiani explores and connects fine art and craft traditions, tracing their origins to Indigenous modes of creation and labor. Using weaving, dying, sculpture, poetry, music, performance, and historical context, she approaches art making as a vehicle for preserving the memory of ancestral crafts. The exhibition will be accompanied by public performances and discussions that bring together Mexico’s rich artistic history with contemporary issues.
Press
“Sound & color: ‘Tania Candiani: Cromatica’ uses the primary color triad of red, yellow and blue to combine the senses” Kathaleen Roberts, Albuquerque Journal
“The Sweet Sound of Color: Tania Candiani’s Cromática, Clark Condé, Weekly Alibi
“Your Concise Southwest US Art Guide for Spring 2020,” Hyperallergic
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Tania Candiani (born 1974, Mexico City) works in a variety of media and practices at the intersection of different languages systems, including phonic, graphic, linguistic, symbolic, and technological. The translation between diverse systems of representation is essential in the creation of her work. She has created interdisciplinary working groups in various fields, consolidating intersections between art, design, literature, music, architecture, and science, with an emphasis on early technologies and their history in the production of knowledge. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship for the Arts (2011), a National System of Art Creators in Mexico Fellowship (2012-2014; 2017-2019), and an Artist Research Fellowship from the Smithsonian Institution (2018). Candiani represented Mexico at the 56th International Venice Biennial in 2015. Her work has been exhibited in museums, institutions, and independent spaces around the world and is part of important public and private collections. Learn more about Tania Candiani at taniacandiani.com
ABOUT THE CURATOR:
Blanca de la Torre is an Independent curator and art critic. Before 2009, she curated exhibitions internationally in cities such as New York, Prague, London and Madrid. From 2009 to 2013, she acted as Chief Curator at ARTIUM, Basque Museum-Center of Contemporary Art (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain). Between 2014 and 2015, She co-curated the exhibition trilogy Invisible Violence, which showed at MoCAB (Belgrade, Serbia), ARTIUM and Salzburger Kunstverein (Salzburg, Austria). She recently curated exhibitions in New York at the Elisabeth Foundation Project Space and at Y Gallery (New York); in Mexico at Centro de las Artes, Monterrey, Museo Carrillo Gil, Mexico City; and Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca; in Colombia at NC-Arte, Bogotá and the group show PIGS, traveling to different European venues. She is currently developing projects for museums like MUSAC in León, LAZNIA, Gdansk, Poland, the South Florida Art Center in Miami, among others.
