Mario García Torres
14 Sep - 30 Oct 2007
© Mario García Torres
A Brief History of Jimmie Johnson ́s Legacy, 2006.
Video, colour, sound, 6 min 45 seg, looped. Courtesy of Jan Mot Brussels
A Brief History of Jimmie Johnson ́s Legacy, 2006.
Video, colour, sound, 6 min 45 seg, looped. Courtesy of Jan Mot Brussels
MARIO GARCÍA TORRES
"Objetos para un rato de ocio (Materials for a Leisure Hour)"
The Elba Benítez gallery presents the first solo exhibition in Spain of Mexican artist Mario García Torres ( Monclova, 1975). García Torres is part of a young generation of artists that has taken Conceptual Art and individuals like Robert Barry and Lawrence Weiner as its guiding lights. These elements, combined with painstaking work and preparatory research, have led to a broader narrative more attuned to the artist’s personal, social and political concerns. His artworks tell stories about places, artists and art, many of which are branded by the use of outmoded technologies (slides, 16mm film) and by the insertion of lettering and voiceovers.
Visitors to the Elba Benítez gallery will be able to watch two of García Torres’ videos, A Brief History of Jimmie Johnson ́s Legacy (2006), Abandoned and Forgotten Land Works that are not Necessarily Meant to be seen as Art (2004), in addition to an intervention called Título Prestado (Title on Loan) which he has specially devised for this exhibition in collaboration with, and inside, one of Madrid’s best known museums.
A Brief History of Jimmie Johnson ́s Legacy analyses museum conventions and their significance in this day and age. García Torres questions the role of these institutions, their desire to direct visitors to what they ought to see in the amount of time deemed necessary for viewing. Using exploits created by filmmakers, like Jean Luc Godard (Bande à Part, 1964) and Bernardo Bertolucci (The Dreamers, 2003), and by artists, such as Mexican artist Juan Jose Gurrola (Tajimara, 1964), he asks himself what distinguishes artistic acts from others that, on the surface at least, are not.
Abandoned and Forgotten Land Works that are not Necessarily Meant to be seen as Art is a catalogue of abandoned runways scattered across the state of California, the majority of which were in use during the Second World War. This succession of images creates a kind of guide book which could be employed on a hypothetical visit: a tongue-in-cheek game that converts a hobby into a work of art, sets up parallelisms with Land Art and proposes considering a runway catalogue as a potential art collection.
By borrowing the title of an artwork belonging to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum’s collection to designate this exhibition, the artist performs an intervention involving both the museum and the gallery. In effect, the title of William M. Harnett’s artwork, Materials for a Leisure Hour, is transformed into an object and made to play a different role in the gallery. Título Prestado consists of two parts, one of which is on display at the museum.
Mario García Torres is one of a group of artists invited to participate in the Official Section of the 52 nd Venice Biennale. His contribution consists of two black and white videos Lo que ocurre en Halifax se queda en Halifax (What happens in Halifax stays in Halifax, 2006) and Carta Abierta a Dr. Atl (Open Letter to Dr. Atl, 2005), in which he explores the stereotypes of the globalization of cultural tourism in ventures such as the Guggenheim in the Guadalajara region (Mexico). In 2007 he has held solo exhibitions at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (A Brief History of Jimmie Johnson’s Legacy), The Museum of Modern Art in Syros, Greece (What doesn’t Kill you Makes you Stronger), and group exhibitions at the Tate Modern, London (Learn to Read; Saturday Live Actions & Interruptions), the Artists’ Space, New York (Elephant Cemetery) and the MNCARS, Madrid, where he exhibited A Brief History of Jimmie Johnson ́s Legacy in the programme Una noche en el museo (o lo que vio Betty Boop).
Luisa Espino
"Objetos para un rato de ocio (Materials for a Leisure Hour)"
The Elba Benítez gallery presents the first solo exhibition in Spain of Mexican artist Mario García Torres ( Monclova, 1975). García Torres is part of a young generation of artists that has taken Conceptual Art and individuals like Robert Barry and Lawrence Weiner as its guiding lights. These elements, combined with painstaking work and preparatory research, have led to a broader narrative more attuned to the artist’s personal, social and political concerns. His artworks tell stories about places, artists and art, many of which are branded by the use of outmoded technologies (slides, 16mm film) and by the insertion of lettering and voiceovers.
Visitors to the Elba Benítez gallery will be able to watch two of García Torres’ videos, A Brief History of Jimmie Johnson ́s Legacy (2006), Abandoned and Forgotten Land Works that are not Necessarily Meant to be seen as Art (2004), in addition to an intervention called Título Prestado (Title on Loan) which he has specially devised for this exhibition in collaboration with, and inside, one of Madrid’s best known museums.
A Brief History of Jimmie Johnson ́s Legacy analyses museum conventions and their significance in this day and age. García Torres questions the role of these institutions, their desire to direct visitors to what they ought to see in the amount of time deemed necessary for viewing. Using exploits created by filmmakers, like Jean Luc Godard (Bande à Part, 1964) and Bernardo Bertolucci (The Dreamers, 2003), and by artists, such as Mexican artist Juan Jose Gurrola (Tajimara, 1964), he asks himself what distinguishes artistic acts from others that, on the surface at least, are not.
Abandoned and Forgotten Land Works that are not Necessarily Meant to be seen as Art is a catalogue of abandoned runways scattered across the state of California, the majority of which were in use during the Second World War. This succession of images creates a kind of guide book which could be employed on a hypothetical visit: a tongue-in-cheek game that converts a hobby into a work of art, sets up parallelisms with Land Art and proposes considering a runway catalogue as a potential art collection.
By borrowing the title of an artwork belonging to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum’s collection to designate this exhibition, the artist performs an intervention involving both the museum and the gallery. In effect, the title of William M. Harnett’s artwork, Materials for a Leisure Hour, is transformed into an object and made to play a different role in the gallery. Título Prestado consists of two parts, one of which is on display at the museum.
Mario García Torres is one of a group of artists invited to participate in the Official Section of the 52 nd Venice Biennale. His contribution consists of two black and white videos Lo que ocurre en Halifax se queda en Halifax (What happens in Halifax stays in Halifax, 2006) and Carta Abierta a Dr. Atl (Open Letter to Dr. Atl, 2005), in which he explores the stereotypes of the globalization of cultural tourism in ventures such as the Guggenheim in the Guadalajara region (Mexico). In 2007 he has held solo exhibitions at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (A Brief History of Jimmie Johnson’s Legacy), The Museum of Modern Art in Syros, Greece (What doesn’t Kill you Makes you Stronger), and group exhibitions at the Tate Modern, London (Learn to Read; Saturday Live Actions & Interruptions), the Artists’ Space, New York (Elephant Cemetery) and the MNCARS, Madrid, where he exhibited A Brief History of Jimmie Johnson ́s Legacy in the programme Una noche en el museo (o lo que vio Betty Boop).
Luisa Espino