New York University presents a diverse roster of public programs in conjunction with the exhibition The Geometry of Hope: Latin American Abstract Art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection, on view at the Grey Art Gallery September 12 through December 8, 2007. Gathered under the title The Geometry of Hope: Abstraction as Cultural Expression-a Campus-wide Initiative, the programs cross disciplines and University departments, and include performances, lectures, discussions, readings, and more. These are centered on a daylong international symposium. Please Note: Information is subject to change. Please confirm details at www.nyu.edu/greyart
Unless otherwise noted, events are free of charge, no reservations, seating is limited. Programs are subject to change. Information: 212/998-6780, greygallery@nyu.edu, www.nyu.edu/greyart. To receive program reminders and updates via e-mail, visit the Grey’s web site and click on “join our listserv.”
A Celebration of Verbal and Visual Culture in Latin America
Fridays at 6:15 pm
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, NYU
53 Washington Square South (between Thompson and Sullivan Sts.)
- September 21: Cecilia Vicuña (Chile) and Coral Bracho (Mexico)
- October 12: Mariela Dreyfus (Peru) and Yolanda Pantin (Venezuela)
- November 9: Lila Zemborain (Argentina) and Jussara Salazar (Brazil)
- December 7: Edwin Torres (Latino USA) and Roberto Echavarren (Uruguay)
In this series of bilingual poetry readings, curated by Lila Zemborain, NYU clinical assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese, Latin American poets will read specially commissioned poems based on works of art featured in The Geometry of Hope. At each event, two poets will each read their respective poem and talk about its genesis and evolution, as well as its relationship with their previous work on ekphrastic poetry. Finally, they will lead a discussion about the links between verbal and visual culture.
Supported by the New York University Humanities Initiative and the Fundación Cisneros. Organized by NYU’s MFA Program in Creative Writing in Spanish, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, and KJCC Poetry Series at the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center. Co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the Grey Art Gallery. For information: 212/998-3650, kjc.info@nyu.edu, or www.nyu.edu/kjc.
Geometry Never Ends: Painting and Beyond
Friday, September 28, 6 pm
Einstein Auditorium, Barney Building, NYU
34 Stuyvesant Street (at 9th St. between 3rd and 2nd Aves.)
This panel discussion will explore the legacy of historic geometric painting and abstraction within the work of emerging contemporary artists. Speakers include artists Ernesto Burgos and Rossana Martínez; Laurin Raiken, chair of NYU’s Gallatin Interdisciplinary Arts Program; and João Ribas, curator, The Drawing Center, New York.
Supported by the Fundación Cisneros. Organized by NYU’s Department of Art and Art Professions, Steinhardt School, and co-sponsored by NYU’s Gallatin Interdisciplinary Arts Program and Grey Art Gallery. For information: 212/998-5799.
Latin American Modern Vernaculars
In Concert Series: New Sounds of Latin America
Tuesday, October 2, 7:30 pm
Joe’s Pub, The Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street (between Astor Place and East 4th St.)
Looking beyond the borders of traditional jazz, composer/pianist and Grammy-award nominee Edward Simon creates a contemporary sound combining jazz harmonies and improvisation with the Afro-Venezuelan and folkloric music of his native country. With his ensemble of world-class musicians including Mark Turner, tenor saxophone; Marco Granados, flute; Edmar Castaneda, harp; John Patitucci, bass; Adam Cruz, drums; and Leonardo Granados, maracas, Simon will explore his Venezuelan roots, showcasing both original compositions and jazz arrangements of the music of well-loved Venezuelan masters.
Supported by the Fundación Cisneros. Organized by NYU’s Department of Music in conjunction with Joe’s Pub, and co-sponsored by the Grey Art Gallery. Admission: $12 students 21 and older with ID., $15 others. Information and advance ticket sales: www.joespub.com.
Gallery Talk
Wednesday, October 3, 6:30 pm
Grey Art Gallery, NYU
100 Washington Square East
By Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, curator of The Geometry of Hope and curator of Latin American Art, Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin. For information: 212/998-6780, greygallery@nyu.edu, www.nyu.edu/greyart.
Latin American Abstraction: A Mathematical Perspective
Thursday, October 4, 6:30 pm
Grey Art Gallery, NYU
100 Washington Square East
Two scholars from The University of Texas at Austin, Mark L. Daniels, clinical associate professor, UTeach Program, College of Natural Sciences, and Mathematics Department, University of Texas at Austin, and Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, curator of The Geometry of Hope and Curator of Latin American Art, Blanton Museum of Art, will lead audience members through the exhibition and discuss, from a mathematical point of view, how the artists engaged-consciously or subconsciously-with geometric theories and ideas of their time.
Supported by the Fundación Cisneros. Organized by NYU’s Grey Art Gallery. For information: 212/998-6780, greygallery@nyu.edu, www.nyu.edu/greyart.
Re-Constructing Geometry: A Symposium on Latin American Abstract Art
Friday, October 5, 9:30 am-5 pm
Hemmerdinger Hall, NYU
100 Washington Square East
The Geometry of Hope represents a landmark in the display and analysis of a multitude of forms of mid-20th-century Latin American abstraction. Expanding our understanding beyond the confines of the show, the twelve international scholars taking part in this symposium will debate elements of aesthetic production from the 1930s to the 1970s, examining works by artists represented in the exhibition as well as other key figures.
Speakers include Sergio Bessa, artist, writer, and arts administrator; Estrellita Brodsky, PhD candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU; Vanessa Davidson, PhD candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU; Rubén Gallo, assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese, Princeton University, historian of Latin American material culture; Valerie Hillings, assistant curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Ariel Jiménez, curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, Caracas and New York; Sarah Montross, PhD candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU; Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, curator of Latin American Art, Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, curator of the exhibition; Luis Pérez-Oramas, The Estrellita Brodsky Curator of Latin American Art, The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Liliana Porter, visual artist; and Cecilia de Torres, scholar of modern Latin American art. Moderated by Edward J. Sullivan, NYU dean for the humanities and professor of fine arts.
Supported by the Fundación Cisneros. Organized by NYU’s Grey Art Gallery. For information: 212/998-6780, greygallery@nyu.edu, www.nyu.edu/greyart.
The Other Side of the Square: Post-World War II French Art Scenes and All That Jazz!
Monday, October 29, 7 pm
La Maison Française, NYU
16 Washington Mews (at University Place)
Serge Guilbaut, professor of art history, visual art, and theory, University of British Columbia, will offer an analysis of the French cultural scene out of which geometric abstraction managed, after a difficult start, to become visible and even at times dominant in the late 1950s. Discussing the many diatribes and antagonistic aesthetic positions-which in Paris were often related to specific worldviews if not political positions-he will explore the utopian social square versus the individual gesture developed in the tumultuous context of the Cold War at the dawn of consumerist culture.
Supported by the Fundación Cisneros and Professor Herman Berkman. Co-sponsored by NYU’s La Maison Française and Grey Art Gallery. For information: 212/998-8750, maisonfrancaise@nyu.edu, or www.nyu.edu/maisonfrancaise.
Latin American and Caribbean Art Today: Curatorial Perspectives
Monday, November 5, 6:15 pm
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, NYU
53 Washington Square South (between Thompson and Sullivan Sts.)
Focusing on The Geometry of Hope as a point of reference, panelists Ursula Dávila-Villa, assistant curator/acting curator of Latin American Art, Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin; Cheryl Hartup, chief curator, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico; Gabriela Rangel, director of Visual arts, Americas Society; and Jorge Rivas, curator of Colonial Art, Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, will discuss their own institutions and curatorial projects within the broader context of trends in collecting and exhibiting practices within the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Moderated by Miriam Basilio, NYU assistant professor of art history and museum studies.
Supported by the Fundación Cisneros. Co-sponsored by NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, Program in Museum Studies, and Grey Art Gallery. For information: 212/998-3650, kjc.info@nyu.edu, or www.nyu.edu/kjc.
LECTURE: Urban Vanguards and Rural Revolutionaries
PANEL: Can the Vanguard be Represented? A Discussion on Latin American Culture and Politics in the 1950s and ’60s
Wednesday, November 14, 3-6 pm
(Location to be announced)
This lecture and panel discussion will explore the relationship between modernist art and left politics in Latin America. Following his talk, David Craven, professor of art history, University of New Mexico, will engage in dialogue with Daniel James, Mendel Professor of Latin American History, University of Indiana; Deborah Poole, professor of anthropology, Johns Hopkins University; and Jean Franco, professor emerita of English and comparative literature, Columbia University. In particular, speakers will examine the tension between modernizing aspects of the left political and cultural project and the search for the “authentic” (that is, not neo-colonial) Latin America typically associated with the rural and indigenous. Moderated by Barbara Weinstein, NYU professor of history.
Supported by Professor Herman Berkman. Organized by NYU’s Department of History and co-sponsored by the Grey Art Gallery. For information: 347/804-6851.
Joaquín Torres-García in Paris and Cercle et Carré
Thursday, November 15, 7 pm
La Maison Française, NYU
16 Washington Mews (at University Place)
Focusing on Joaquín Torres-García’s years in Paris, Mario Gradowczyk, independent scholar and curator, will shed light on his involvement in Cercle et Carré, a Constructivist artists’ movement.
Supported by Professor Herman Berkman. Co-sponsored by NYU’s La Maison Française and Grey Art Gallery. For information: 212/998-8750, maisonfrancaise@nyu.edu, or www.nyu.edu/maisonfrancaise.
The Geometry of Hope Creative Writing Prize: Readings
Wednesday, November 28, 7 pm
Grey Art Gallery, NYU
100 Washington Square East
The Geometry of Hope Creative Writing Prize winner and finalists will read their poetry and prose in the context of paintings, sculptures, and prints from the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros. The prize is awarded to the best poem or short prose piece written by an NYU undergraduate in response to the exhibition.
Supported by the Fundación Cisneros. Organized by NYU’s Creative Writing Program and Grey Art Gallery. For information: 212/998-6780, greygallery@nyu.edu, www.nyu.edu/greyart.
Latin American Song
In Concert Series: New Sounds of Latin America
Tuesday, December 4, 7:30 pm
Joe’s Pub, The Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street (between Astor Place and East 4th St.)
The New York Times has called her voice “towering” and Jazz Times has labeled her a genius. In this concert Brazilian composer and vocalist Claudia Villela will present newly commissioned songs inspired by texts from Argentinean, Brazilian, Uruguayan, and Venezuelan poets active during the late 1960s and 1970s. Called “a thrilling improvisor” by Down Beat, Villela will be accompanied by a group of five musicians including the virtuoso Brazilian guitarist Ricardo Peixoto.
Supported by a Visual Arts Initiative Award from NYU’s Coordinating Council for Visual Arts and by the Fundación Cisneros. Organized by NYU’s Department of Music in conjunction with Joe’s Pub, and co-sponsored by the Grey Art Gallery. Admission: $12 students 21 and older with ID., $15 others. For information and advance ticket sales: www.joespub.com.
Colloquium on Latin American Song with Claudia Villela
Wednesday, December 5, 3:30-4:45 pm
Kimmel Center, NYU
60 Washington Square South (at La Guardia Place), Room 905/907
Claudia Villela is recognized as one of the top Brazilian musicians living in the United States and on albums such as Inverse Universe (with Ricardo Peixoto) and Dreamtales (with Kenny Werner), she has shown herself to be a graceful, imaginative singer, an adventurous improviser, and a stunningly creative composer and lyricist. In this colloquium she will discuss her life and music, giving particular emphasis to the songs she composed for the concert Latin American Song (listed above).
Supported by the Fundación Cisneros. Organized by NYU’s Department of Music and co-sponsored by the Grey Art Gallery. For information: 212/998-8300.
RELATED EXHIBITION
All is well that begins well and never ends
80 Washington Square East Galleries
Department of Art and Art Professions, Steinhardt School, NYU
Opening Reception: Tuesday, September 11, 6-8 pm
Exhibition on view through October 31
Curated by Jan Van Woensel, Ernesto Burgos, and Jonah Groeneboer, this exhibition focuses on emerging artists working with the language of abstraction who seek to expand and re-contextualize modernist notions of geometry. Artists include Ernesto Burgos, Chris Duncan, Andres Ferrandis, Satoru Eguchi, Jonah Groeneboer, Inverted Topology, Xylor Jane, Rossana Martínez, and Gean Moreno. Presenting their works in dialogue with The Geometry of Hope, the organizers hope to spark a conversation about the possibilities of abstraction among artists, curators, and historians, to make manifest today’s artistic concerns, and to create new possibilities for future discourse. For information: 212/998-5747.