Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo, Anna Recasens, and Laia Solé
On Art and Friendship
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
5 to 6:15pm EST
Photo credit: Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo. [Image Description: A photograph of items on top of a blue and white checked tablecloth with a floral motif. To the left of the image is a jar of lavender. Taped to the jar is a piece of masking tape with the words "LAVENDER CALAF - 14" written in black marker. Next to the jar is a floral ceramic plate with a bunch of grapes. To the right of the plate is a light green mug. Below the mug is a smart phone showing a text exchange comprised of images and words.]
Nicolás (The Bronx), Anna (Jerez de la Frontera), and Laia (Barcelona) have been communicating since February 2020 between the U.S. and Europe through WhatsApp, making visible some of the aspects of art praxis that do not usually translate as art within the exhibition space: friendship and camaraderie. All three friends share common denominators: they met in Catalonia; have worked with communities; and are interested in art that thrives within the day-to-day. Similarly, they have focused on shaping experiences and situations that defy art as a competitive field, and instead have labored within a context of partnership and familial relationships, where the artistic and the personal mingle and nurture one another.
This program opened with a Zoom conversation between Sara Reisman, Executive and Artistic Director of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, and Nicolás on the influence of friendship in his work. This led to a discussion on the process of On Art and Friendship with Nicolás, Anna Recasens, and Laia Solé. The evening closed with an opportunity for attendees to briefly share about meaningful connections in their lives.
On Art and Friendship was conceived by Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo and developed in partnership with Laia Solé, and Anna Recasens.
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Nicolás (The Bronx), Anna (Jerez de la Frontera), y Laia (Barcelona) se han estado comunicando desde febrero del 2020, entre los Estados Unidos y Europa a través de WhatsApp, haciendo visible algunos de los aspectos de la práctica artística que usualmente no tienen cabida, como obra de arte, en el espacio de la galería: la amistad y la camaradería. Nicolás, Anna, y Laia comparten denominadores comunes: se conocieron en Cataluña, han trabajado en comunidad, y se han enfocado en experiencias y situaciones que desafían el arte como disciplina competitiva y, por el contrario, han laborado dentro de un contexto de colaboración y relaciones familiares en el que lo artístico y lo personal se mezclan y se nutren mutuamente.
Este programa comenzó con una conversación de Zoom entre Sara Reisman, Directora Ejecutiva y Artística de la Fundación Shelley & Donald Rubin, y Nicolás sobre la influencia de la amistad en su trabajo. Esto condujo a una discusión sobre el proceso de On Art and Friendship con Nicolás, Anna Recasens y Laia Solé. La tarde se cerró con una oportunidad para que los asistentes compartan brevemente sobre conexiones significativas en sus vidas.
Sobre Arte y Amistad fue concebido por Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo y desarrollado en colaboración con Laia Solé, y Anna Recasens.
To read a transcript of the event, please click here.
Bios
Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo treads an elusive path that manifests itself performatively, through creative experiences that he unfolds within the quotidian. He has exhibited and performed at Madrid Abierto/ARCO, The IX Havana Biennial, PERFORMA 05/07, IDENSITAT, Prague Quadrennial, Pontevedra Biennial, Queens Museum, MoMA, Printed Matter, P.S. 122, Hemispheric Institute of Performance Art and Politics, Princeton University, Anthology Film Archives, El Museo del Barrio, Center for Book Arts, Longwood Art Gallery/BCA, The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Franklin Furnace, and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Estévez Raful Espejo has received mentorship in art in everyday life from Linda Mary Montano, a historic figure in the performance art field. Residencies attended include P.S. 1/MoMA, Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony. Estévez Raful Espejo holds an MFA from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, where he studied with Coco Fusco; and an MA from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. Born in Santiago de los Treinta Caballeros, Dominican Republic, in 2011 Estévez Raful Espejo was baptized as a Bronxite; a citizen of the Bronx. https://www.elmuseo.org/office-hours/
Anna Recasens is a visual artist, researcher and cultural manager who combines her personal and collective artistic proposals with research and cultural revitalization intiatives. Her projects center around art, nature, urban issues, and social space. She also teaches workshops, publishes articles, and participates in forums related to these subjects. Recasens’ individual and collaborative work has been presented internationally in residencies and exhibitions. Between 2012 and 2017, she founded and directed the Laboratori Social Metropolità, based in the NauEstruch, Sabadell, Catalonia. Recasens is part of and collaborates with art programs and platforms such as Idensitat and Plataforma Vértices. www.annarecasens.org
Laia Solé’s work explores the social and physical dimensions of space. She intervenes in spaces by actions that communicate and/or transform the dynamics of each site, using resources that are immediate and interactive. Her work often develops as a cooperative practice, working with other artists and local communities. In her recent works, she blends her passion for the early cinema’s visual tricks and site-specific actions. She was an Artist-in-Residence at LABMIS at Museu da Imagem e do Som (Sao Paulo), 2012 and has exhibited her work extensively including at MAC (Santiago de Chile); Arts Santa Mònica (Barcelona); The Drawing Center (New York); and the Fundación Chirivella-Soriano (València). http://www.laiasole.net/