ERRE: Critic exercise from beauty

In her article for La Jornada en Linea, Merry MacMasters wrote about the duality between “rough” –in the thematic aspect– and aesthetically beautiful elements in Marcos Ramirez ERRE’s work, who recently inaugurated La reconstruccion de los hechos, at Carrillo Gil Art Museum in the Mexican capital.

This is the first personal exhibition carried out by this artist in Mexico DF. In fact, it was initially planned as a wider project for El Cubo, Tijuana Cultural Center’s joint museum. With the curatorship of Kevin Power and Cesar Garcia, La reconstrucción… is a retrospective of several years of ERRE’s work, including pretty-well known works, true icons of Mexican contemporary art, as well as some unpublished pieces.

Marcos Ramirez is an artist from Tijuana (he was born in that city in 1961 and he presently works there), that’s the reason why the leading idea in his work has always been the intercultural clash, from a critic perspective. Nevertheless, we can feel in his works an approach to more specific issues such as the fragility of memory, the analysis of historic truth, the relations among citizens and their governments, notions of identity and sense of belongingness, along with ideas related to local and global issues. Quoting the artist: “[…] other aspects of my works aim at the reflection on the complex nature of nationalisms and regionalisms that always bring about conflict zones and radical positions such as xenophobia, racism and intolerance, along with their terrible expressions of discrimination, violence and repression”.

The exhibition we are recommending stands far from conventional models of lineal and temporal presentation, for it promotes the dialogue among projects from different times, giving new meanings for some of them. Likewise, the curators decided to put on the map archive material related to works that are not included in this display. This curatorial conception promotes a more-dynamic exchange with spectators, within an atmosphere of multiple poetic inquiries, where their participation turns out to be vital. It’s all about the social, political and economic situation of his country, his city, and the artist is deeply committed with it. And this critical commitment is what he wants to bring to life in spectators.

The exhibition kicked off on June 11 and will be open to the public through September 4. Teresa Vicencio, director of the Fine Arts National Institute stated in the inauguration that “The works to be admired by the public in this exhibition […] are confrontational. This artist allows us to have a reflex of borders, not only geopolitical but among human beings, bringing about questions on our responsibility with each other […] You can’t say that he’s a border artist, he’s an excellent Mexican artist that has gained a position in the international arena. ”

He studied Laws at the Autonomous University of Baja California and he has worked as visual artist since 1989. Ramirez has participated in art exhibitions in Mexico, USA, France, Spain, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Russia, highlighting Insite 94, Insite 97, 6^th and 7^th Biennial of Havana, 2000 Biennial of Whitney Museum, Polygraph Triennial of San Juan, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, Biennial of Sao Paulo-Valencia and the Second Biennial of Moscow. We can also quote the exhibitions Made in California, Mexico Iluminado, From Baja to Vancouver, Politicas de la Diferencia /Arte Iberoamericano de fin de siglo and ECO: Arte Contemporaneo Mexicano at Reina Sofia National Museum and Art Center, Madrid, among others. He’s presently carrying out an exhibitions program for Estacion Tijuana, a non-profitable space with alternative features in the region Tijuana-San Diego, focused on art, architecture, urbanism and popular culture.

Carrillo Gil Art Museum

From Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 - 18:00 hours

Revolucion Ave 1608, San Angel

Sources: http://www.museodeartecarrillogil.com / http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ http://www.artenautas.gob.mx