Elena del Rivero - My Friends and other Animals

The idea of this exhibition came back to me some months ago when I was beginning
my relationship with Travesía Cuatro. I proposed to introduce myself as an artist of
the gallery, surrounded by friends, and in the context of an exhibition that would
address the symbolic language of the “relationship”. Silvia and Inés welcomed this
approach with excitement.
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The genesis of this project is rooted in my friendship with Assumpta Bassas and in
the countless hours spent discussing, and sometimes disagreeing, on practices of
feminism and of sexual difference.
We, as artists, are challenged with how we use, transform and alter symbols through
our work. The passage of time, the unavoidable condition of my conception, and an
economy of means have been some of the tools that I have used to thread my work.
All artists in this show, Coplans included, share similar concerns within the complex
critique of art making itself.
The artists are the catalyst for this proposal, and together with the collaboration of
Travesía Cuatro they have allowed me to research the semantic scope of the
symbolic language of ‘the relationship.’ I selected works that, when brought
together, have become the syntax for the dialogue I am creating. My aim, through
the installation, is to reveal the poetry in each individual work while uncovering the
interconnections between them. I have included my work in this mise-en-scène as the
agent of these social relations.
The motivation, while gratifying and uplifting, has no pretentions of confronting
modernist ideas. Nor have I taken into account the new languages that spring from
social media, even though they too promote a relationship. Besides the urgent
nature of the works selected, I have been drawn to them by their visual impact, the
allegories they trigger, and their classicism.
My relationships with the artists vary from the neighbourly to those of great
friendship. Some have been mentors, others collaborators; one I have admired all
my life and recently, finally met. And the relationship continues, like an open
window, forever stimulating dialogue.
The title of the show is adapted from Gerald Durrell’s “My Family and Other
Animals” which I enjoyed reading when I was young.
Elena del Rivero, New York, May 2016
Travesía Cuatro and Elena del Rivero would like to thank the artists for participating in this
exhibition. Thanks also go to Maria Silvestre Marco, Espai Visor of Valencia, Nordenhake of
Berlin, Kauffman Repetto of Milan, and Universal Limited Art Editions, New York, for their
collaboration.
Elena would also like to thank Silvia Ortiz and Inés López Quesada for the opportunity to
present this exhibition in their space in Madrid, and to the team of Travesia Cuatro, especially
to Victoria Solano project manager of the exhibition and Andrés González for editing my texts
Biography of the artists
Ángeles Marco (Valencia, Spain 1947 – 2008) was the chair of the Department of
Sculpture at the University of Valencia. She was a notable sculptor who made a mark
among her students for her sophisticated arguments, intellectual rigor and her
challenging use of materials. She became well known in the Spanish art milieu of the
Transition thanks to the vision and support of the late art dealer Manolo
Montenegro. Ángeles was a precursor in Spain of the use of new materials in
sculpture like cloth, rubber, and liquids. Her spiritual evolution led her to research
the use of the pendulum in relation to her art making at the end of her life.
Freya Powell (b. London, United Kingdom, 1983) holds an MFA from Hunter
College (2012) and a BA in Studio Arts from Bard College (2006). Her work
addresses the relationship of language to individual and collective memory. She has
exhibited her work nationally and internationally at venues including: #1 Cartagena,
tel: +34 91 3100098
san mateo, 16, 28004 madrid l spain
tel: +52 3336152694
avenida la paz 2207, 44140 guadalajara l mexico
[email protected]
travesiacuatro.com
the first international Biennial of Cartagena, Colombia; Bronx Museum, New York,
USA; Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, New York, USA; Emerson Dorsch,
Miami, USA; and Arts Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain, among others. Freya teaches
at the Cooper Union and Queensborough Community College. She lives and works
in Queens, New York, USA.
Elena del Rivero (b. Valencia, Spain, 1949) seeks the double entendre to uncover a
subtle, if aesthetic, potential within the discarded object and the transformation of
decay. She has had solo exhibitions at the Reina Sofía in Madrid and Institut
Valenciá d’Art Modern in Valencia, Spain; The Drawing Center and the New Museum
in New York City, USA; The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC, USA. Her
work is included in major collections in the USA and Europe. Awards include:
Creative Capital Foundation Grant, The Rockefeller Foundation Residency at
Belagio, Italy, and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award. This is her first venture
organizing an exhibition. Del Rivero lives and works in New York City, USA.
Esther Ferrer (b. San Sebastian 1937) is an interdisciplinary artist and performance
art teacher; she is regarded as one of the most influential artists of her generation in
Spain. She has been awarded many prizes most recently the Premio Velázquez, by an
international jury, in 2014. In 1999 Esther represented Spain at The Venice Biennial.
Her production also includes objects, photographs, and systems based on the
analysis of the series of prime numbers. She described her art making to Sylvie Ferré
as “a particular minimalismo that integrates rigor, humor and absurdity”. Esther has
participated in performances alone and with the Zaj Group, integrated by Ramón
Barce, Juan Hidalgo and Walter Marchetti, at The Kitchen in New York, The Walker
Art Center in Minneapolis to venues in Japan, Poland, and Germany. The artist lives
and works in Paris, France.
Janice Guy (b. London, United Kingdom, 1953) studied at the Kunstakademie
Düsseldorf in Germany. Her works can be understood as part of a complex
interrogation of identity-related image making. In the 1980s she stopped making
art, and began producing and curating exhibitions for other artists. In 2007, her
photographs resurfaced in the exhibition Early Work at White Columns, New York
City, USA. Since then she has had solo exhibitions at The Apartment, Vancouver,
Canada, and Cleopatra’s, New York, and has participated in group shows at
Wilkinson, London; Mezzanin, Vienna, Austria; Labor, Mexico City, Mexico; and
Mitchell Algus Gallery, New York. Her photographs are in the collections of the
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and Kunstmuseum Bochum, Germany and the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York. Janice Guy is co-owner of the New York gallery Murray
Guy.
John Coplans (London, UK, 1920 – New York, USA, 2003) was one of the founding
editors of Artforum. He was an army officer in the Second World War, afterwards he
briefly studied painting in London and left for San Francisco, USA, in 1960. Later he
became Senior Curator at the Pasadena Art Museum where he organized important
exhibitions with: James Turrell (1967), Andy Warhol (1970), Richard Serra (1970),
Donald Judd (1971) and Ellsworth Kelly (1972). Among his many noteworthy books
are Cezanne's Watercolours (1967), Serial Imagery (1968), and Andy Warhol (1967). In
the 80’s he curated the first American exhibition of Brancusi´s photographs and of
John Heartfield´s montages. In 1981, at the age of 61, he began his career as a
photographer and received widespread recognition. His work is held in the
collections of major museums.
Kiki Bauer (b. Berlin, Germany, 1976) is a graphic designer and the founder of Kiki
Bauer Design (2009). Previously, she was the art director at powerHouse Books, an
independent New York based publisher of illustrated books and photography. She
won an Art Directors Club merit award A Body: John Coplans (powerHouse Books)
in 2002. Kiki has collaborated with Elena Del Rivero, John Beech and other artists.
tel: +34 91 3100098
san mateo, 16, 28004 madrid l spain
tel: +52 3336152694
avenida la paz 2207, 44140 guadalajara l mexico
[email protected]
travesiacuatro.com
Bauer lives and works in New York City, USA.
Kiki Smith (b. Nuremberg, Germany, 1954) has been known since the 1980s for her
multidisciplinary practice relating to the human condition and the natural world. Her
figurative work confronted subjects such as AIDS, gender and race. She uses a broad
variety of materials that include sculpture, printmaking, photography, drawing and
textiles. Wonderland, her next solo exhibition will open at the Haus der Kunst in
Munich, Germany, in 2017. Smith was elected a member of the American Academy of
Arts and Letters, New York, USA, in 2005 and in 2016 she was awarded the
International Sculpture Center’s lifetime Achievement. Her work is in the collection of
major museums around the world. Kiki Smith lives and works in New York City, USA.
Lily van der Stokker (b. Amsterdam, Netherlands 1954) has been creating cartoonish
doodles for more than twenty years, applying colors ranging from soft pastels to
bright fluorescents. With witty texts she complicates their reading since they not only
address issues of beauty and playfulness but also of aesthetic experiences and
intellectual criticality. She has exhibited extensively and her work is in collections like
the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; Jumex Collection, Mexico City, Mexico;
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, USA, and Museum Boijmans van Beuningen
in Rotterdam, Netherlands, among others. She recently accomplished a major
project at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA. The artist lives and works in
Amsterdam and New York City, USA.
Maria Lozano (b. Zaragoza, Spain) is a scholar and chair of Anglo-American
literature at the Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain; she specializes in the oeuvre
of Virginia Woolf. Lozano is also a literary critic, and an accomplished translator of
Nabokov, among other authors. In 1996, she became the director of Instituto
Cervantes in New York, USA, where she launched and helped realize public projects
by young Spanish artists. Lozano continues with her teaching and research
endeavors in Madrid, Spain.
Tere Recarens (b. Arbucies, Spain, 1967) is a genuinely nomadic artist. Her poetically
charged work that addresses issues of social concerns in today’s world is always
filled with irony and humor. Major installations include Et cauran les dents, Espai 13,
Fundació Miró, Barcelona (1994), Terremoto, Capella de l’Antic Hospital, Barcelona
(1996), Prisse de Terre, Art3 Centre Art Contemporaine Valence (1997), I was ready
to Jump, PS1, New York (2000) and We are insane because we are poor, Halfhouse,
Barcelona (2013) among others. Recent group shows include, The Secret Cabinet,
KREUZBERG, Berlin (2012); Die Kunst des urbanen Handelns, Rotor – Center for
Contemporary Art, Graz (2013); and SOS, Signale, 48 Stunden Neukölln, Neukölln
Arcaden, Berlin (2015). She has participated in workshops at universities around the
world, most recently in Mali, and Shiraz, Iran. Recarens lives and works in Berlin,
Germany.