|
 |
Oscar Munoz
Ambulatorio: by Fernando Castro
Glass usually filters a view of the world that is parallel to it, not perpendicular to it. Only a bird's eye view of the world like the one from an airplane-- allows us a perpendicular perspective of the world. Although it is seldom the case that one can see a city from an airplane through shattered glass, when one does, it is probably a dying act. Glass is broken accidentally or intentionally: a falling rock hits your windshield or a bullet breaks through your bedroom window. It is unlikely that Oscar Muñoz wants us to believe that the glass in his 1994 installation work "Ambulatorios" was shattered accidentally. In Cali, Colombia, one of the most violent cities in the world, a glass like this one is shattered every day in an attempt to hurt innocent people in one way or another. What are we to make of the fact that the shattered glass of "Ambulatorios" is filtering an aerial view of Cali? Is the work pointing out how dangerous it is to even gaze at the city of Cali from a distance? Is the aerial photograph pointing to the act of narco-terrorism that once brought down a Colombian passenger airplane? Is it the last view of the passengers of that tragic flight? Or, is "Ambulatorios" about aerial surveillance by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency? Does "Ambulatorios" have the effect of reaching the viewer with the force of threat or of bewilderment?
Oscar Muñoz's later oeuvre has dealt with many of these issues: violence; death; gazing at oneself, others and being gazed at by others; seeing through filters, and through fragmentation and decomposition. The later development of Muñoz's work merits a renewed look at this 1994 work.
Oscar Muñoz: The Ends of Process by Fernando Castro R.
Oscar Muñoz's oeuvre shows its hermeneutic possibilities by simply describing it. The series "Aliento" (breath) consists of polished steel mirrors in whose surface an image has been drawn with a greasy medium. However, the image is not visible to the viewer unless he/she fogs the mirror with his/her breath; otherwise, he/she only sees him/herself as in a regular mirror.
On the other hand, "Narcisos" (Narcissi) are self-portraits which start off as photographic images on a silkscreen but instead of following the silkscreen printing process to its usual end, the screen is placed horizontally slightly over the surface of water. Coal dust is then sprinkled on the screen so that it goes through where the sieve is clear. The screen is removed and the coal dust draws a fragile image on the water. The image floats on the surface of the water and undergoes distortions and deterioration as the latter moves and shifts. Although this ephemeral process itself defines the work, it may also have different ends when the water evaporates and the coal dust precipitates drawing the distorted image on the plexiglas bottom of the container or on a paper that may or may not have been placed there. The ephemeral and frail nature of these self-portraits echoes that song of songs where all is vanity.
A more emotional piece, "Lacrimarios" (tear containers), is a variation of this above-mentioned technique, except the container is closed with a transparent cover so that the evaporating water is condensed on the cover and the viewer is forced to look at the image through a film of "tears." The net effect is of looking at a representation of the world through tears. These series of works were originally in memory of Saja Kaim, an art student who was killed by one of the many armed groups that operate in the Pacific coast of Colombia. That region happens to have one of the highest indices of humidity and precipitation in the world. Thus, the works also have an ecological dimension that refers to the setting of an environment dense with life and death.
Born in Popayán, Colombia in 1951.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2006 Balelatina, Basel Switzerland
2005 Memorial Project. Iturralde Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
Memorial Project. Feria de video arte, LOOP. Barcelona, Spain.
2004 Oscar Muñoz: Ambulatorio, Fotofest 2004, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, Texas.
Oscar Muñoz, Tres video proyecciones. Galería Alcuadrado, NA (B) Room. Madrid, España.
El Puente. Dos video-proyecciones, Galería Alcuadrado y Cámara de Comercio de Cali, Puente Ortiz, Cali, Colombia
2003 Eclipse, Sala Comfandi, Cali, Colombia.
Oscar Muñoz, teoretica, San Jose, Costa Rica.
Oscar Muñoz, Alianza Colombo Francesa, Bogota, Colombia.
2002 The Ends of Process, Fotofest 2002, Sicardi Gallery, Houston,
Texas.
Trans-figuraciones, Iturralde Gallery, Los Angeles, California.
Eclipse, Galeria Santa Fe, Planetario Distrital, Bogota, Colombia.
1999 Oscar Muñoz, Throckmorton Fine Art, New York, New York.
1998 Oscar Muñoz, Narcisos, Aliento, Centro Cultural MEC, Ministerio de Educacion y cultura, Montevideo, Uruguay.
1997 Oscar Muñoz, Galería Metropolitana de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Oscar Muñoz, Museo de Arte de Pereira, Pereira, Colombia.
1996 Oscar Muñoz, Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogota, Colombia.
1995 Narcisos, Galeria Garces Velasquez, Bogota, Colombia.
Narcisos, Museo de Arte Moderno La Tertulia, Cali, Colombia.
1994 Narcisos, Ledisflam Gallery, New York, New York.
1993 Estudios y Proyectos, Galería de Bellas Artes, Cali, Colombia.
1991 Superficies al Carbon, Galería Garcés Velásquez, Bogota, Colombia.
1990 Superficies al Carbón, Sala Suramericana de Seguros, Medellín, Colombia.
Superficies al Carbón, Museo de Arte Moderno La Tertulia, Cali, Colombia.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2006 Certain Encounters: Daros-Latinamerica Collection, Vancouver, Canada
2005 Art Basel Miami Beach 2005, Sicardi Gallery, Miami Beach, FL
Indelible Images (trafficking between life and death). The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas.
Cantos, Cuentos Colombianos, Daros-Latinamerica, Zurich, Switzerland.
The Disappeared, North Dakota Museum of Art. Grand Forks ND.
Weedee peepo : Icons, Portraits y Gente. Galería de la Raza, San Francisco, California.
Nuevas aquisciones, Fundación La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain.
51 Venice Biennale, Instituto Italo-latinoamericano Pavillion,Lila. Venice, italy.
Prague Biennale for Contemporary Art. National Gallery. Prague, Checz Republic.
Imagen + Realidad, Galería Alcuadrado, Bogotá
"The Hours" Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) Dublin.
2004 VIII Bienal de Cuenca,. Cuenca, Ecuador. Participación fuera de concurso.
O.K., America! Apex Art, New York.
Pintura? Pintura!, Galería Marlborough. Madrid, Spain.
Slowness.The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Zealand.
Arte y Moneda. Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, Bogotá, Colombia.
39 Salón Nacional de Artistas. Bogotá, Colombia.
Trienal Poligráfica de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico,
Retratos:2000 years of Latin American portraiture.
Museo del Barrio, New York, USA.
San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego.
Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach.
Smithsonian,National portrait Gallery, Washington.
San Antonio Museum of Art,San Antonio.
2003 Photographic Work, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, Texas.
Tres Artistas Alcuadrado, Bogotá, Colombia.
Oscar Muñoz, Fundacion Ars Teorítica, San José, Costa Rica.
Re/trato, Sala Alianza Francesa, Bogotá, Colombia.
Face Value, The Americas Society, New York, New York.
Colombia 2003, Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
S(HOW), Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania.
Stretch, The Power Plant, Toronto, Canada.
2002 Miami Currents: Linking Collection and Community, Miami Art Museum, Miami, Florida.
VIII Bienal de Arte de Bogota, Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá, Colombia.
Miami/Basel, Convention Center, Miami, Florida.
Entrelíneas, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain.
Face Value: Contemporary Video Works from Colombia, Lafreewaves, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Focus on the Figure, A Selection from the Permanent Collection & New Acquesitions, Miami Art Museum, Florida.
Invisible Cities, Center for Photography at Woodstock, New York.
Everyman: A Search for the Male Form, SFCamerawork, San Francisco, California.
Photographic Memory & Other Shots in the Dark, Galeria de la Raza, San Francisco, California.
Time/frame, Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas.
Oxygen, White Box, New York, New York.
2001 Voices from Our Communities: Perspectives on a Decade of Collecting at El Museo del Barrio, Museo del Barrio, New York.
Personal Permanent Records, Contemporary Latin American Photography, Museum of the Americas, Washington, D.C.
Triangel des Arts: Arte Contemporáneo en las Plazas de Grácia, Barcelona, Spain.
2000 Bordes Inasibles, 47 Salón Internacional de Fotografía, Centro Cultural Cajastur, Palacio Revillagigedo, Gijón, Spain.
Art Chicago, Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.
Bordes Inasibles, Instituto de América, Centro Damian Bayán de Santa Fé, Granada, Spain.
El Dibujo, Sala Suramericana, Medellín, Colombia.
Photo Based Artwork, Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.
Personal Permanent Records, Contemporary Latin American Photography, Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, Texas.
1999 Amnesia, New Art from South America, The Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Re-aligning Vision: Alternative Currents in South America, Miami Art Museum, Miami, Florida.
Amnesia, New Art from South America, Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, Bogota, Colombia.
Arte y Violencia, Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogota, Colombia.
Amnesia, New Art from South America, The Contemporary Art Museum of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.
Personal Permanent Records, Contemporary Latin American Photography, Center for Photography at Woodstock, New York.
Amnesia, New Art from South America, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York.
Art Cologne, Galería Metropolitana de Barcelona, Cologne, Germany.
Fin de Milenio, Museo de Bellas Artes de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela.
1998 Re-aligning Vision: Alternative Currents in South America, Huntington Art Gallery, Austin, Texas.
La Generacion Intermedia, Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, Bogotá, Colombia.
Re-aligning Vision: Alternative Currents in South America, Museo de Bellas Artes de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela.
Amnesia, New Art from South America, Christopher Grimes Gallery - Track 16 Gallery, Los Angeles, California.
Re-aligning Vision: Alternative Currents in South America, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Monterrey MARCO, Monterrey, Mexico.
Art Cologne, Galeria Metropolitana, de Barcelone, Cologne, Germany.
1997 Festival Internacional de Arte, Lima Peru.
6th Bienal de la Habana, Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro, Havana, Cuba.
Re-aligning Vision: Alternative Currents in South America, Museo del Barrio, New York, New York.
Imaginacion y Fantasia, Museo de Arte Moderno La Tertulia, Cali, Colombia.
Una Nueva Bienal, Festival Internacional Ciudad de Medellin, Medellin, Colombia.
South America Los Angeles International Invitational, Christopher Grimes Gallery, Los Angeles, California.
1996 Biographies FotoFest 96, Houston, Texas.
Urban Landscape, Mision Permanente de Colombia ante las Naciones, New York.
Relaciones, Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporaneo de San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica.
V Bienal de Arte de Bogota, Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia.
1994 Kwanju International Biennale, Kwanju, South Korea
.
La Galeria, un contenedor de espacio a finales de siglo, +Galeria El Museo, Bogotá, Colombia.
1992 ABC Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch, College, New York.
Pulsiones, Museo de Arte Moderno La Tertulia, Cali, Colombia.
1991 America la Novia del Sol, Real Museo de Bellas Artes de Amberes, Amberes, Belgium.
Colombia Arte 80, Galeria Jenny Vila, Cali, Colombia.
1990 Sculpture of Americas into the Nineties, Museo de Arte Comtemporaneo de America Latina, Washington, D.C.
1988 Primera Bienal de Arte, Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogotá, Colombia.
Sobre Papel, Galeria Ventana, Cali, Colombia.
1987 Arte Colombiano: Mito, Sueño y Realidad, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, D.C.
Dibujantes Colombianos Modernos, Museo de Arte Universidad Nacional, Bogota, Colombia.
XXXI Salón de Artistas Nacionales, Medellin, Bogotá, Colombia.
XIX Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
COLLECTIONS
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, CA.
Museo del Barrrio, N.Y., New York.
Daros Collection, Zurich, Switzerland.
The Akron Museum, Ohio.
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX.
Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL.
Fundacíon"la Caixa", Barcelona, Spain.
MEIAC, Museo Extremeo e iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo, Extremadura, Spain.
Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX.
Orange County Museum, Orange CA.
Hirshorm Museum, Washington D.C.
Centro Cultural Cajastur, Caja de Asturias Gijón, Spain.
Fundación El Monte,CAja de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.
Colección Cisneros, Caracas,Venezuela.
Colección Sofia Imber, Caracas, Venezuela.
Teorítica,San Jose,Costa Rica.
Museo de Arte Moderno de Pereira, Pereira, Colombia.
Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, Bogotá, Colombia.
Museo de Arte Moderno La Tertulia, Cali, Colombia.
Museo de Arte Universidad Nacional, Bogota, Colombia.
Oscar Munoz
|
Press
|
All Artists
|
