documento at Embajada

Artists: ASMA, Alex Becerra, Daniel Boccato, Cristine Brache, Wendy Cabrera Rubio, Matteo Callegari, Antoine Carbonne, Guanina Cotto, Taína Cruz, Emily Davidson, Danielle De Jesús, Larissa De Jesús Negrón, Débora Delmar, Maggie Ellis, Cielo Felix-Hernández, Peter Fend, Juan “Jufe” Fernández, Elizabeth Ferry, Radamés “Juni” Figueroa, Al Freeman, Sofía Gallisá Muriente, Vartiko Garcia, Jorge González, Sebastián Gutiérrez, Vanessa Gully Santiago, Vanessa Hernández-Gracia, Karlo Andrei Ibarra, Alana Iturralde, Elizabeth Jaeger, Daniel Lind-Ramos, Stuart Lorimer, Raúl Martínez, Adriana Martínez, Josué Mejía, Elsa María Meléndez, Manuel Mendoza Sánchez, Joiri Minaya, Jesús “Bubu” Negrón, Jonny Negrón, Nora Maité Nieves, Margaux Ogden, Juan Antonio Olivares, Ángel Otero, Kivan Quiñones, Paul Ramírez Jonas, Chemi Rosado-Seijo, Claudia Peña Salinas, Curtis Talwst Santiago, Irgin Sena, Yiyo Tirado, Gabriella Torres Ferrer, Rafael Vega, Chloe Wilcox, Alberto Zayas Montilla

Exhibition title: documento

Venue: Embajada, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Date: October 31, 2020 – February 6, 2021

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Embajada, San Juan

The exhibition, a nod to the esteemed quinquennial documenta, celebrates the artists Embajada has exhibited over the past 5 years as well those we admire and look forward to collaborating with. Like its namesake, documento extends for 100 days and aims to act as both survey and forum for an international contemporary art discourse rooted in a Caribbean context. Presenting a variety of mediums including painting, sculpture, video, and installation, documento encompasses Embajada’s mission of showcasing contemporary art that is in dialogue with issues of Caribbean identity, the multiplicity of Puerto Rican diasporas, and innovative art practices.

documento includes a collaboration between Oficina de la Embajada and KM0.2. featuring artists Yiyo Tirado and Karlo Andrei Ibarra in a project entitled Historia de la repetición. The timely presentation critiques the inequities inherent in the political electoral system. For more information on the installation including an accompanying essay by Alberto Zayas Montilla, click here.

We also celebrate the grand opening of MALL x EMBAJADA, a collaboration with MALL, a project created, directed and curated by Colombia artists Juliana Echavarría and Adriana Martínez founded in October 2018 in Bogotá. MALL curates, produces, and sells garments made by contemporary artists worldwide; exhibiting and presenting at established commercial venues such as museum stores, galleries, and art fairs. MALL aims to reflect upon the utility of the work of art and the dynamics that govern its circulation and commercialization, subjecting art to the demographic platform of a shop and to the premises of the ready to wear. The clothes are artworks, and the artworks are clothes, and the people who wear them are moving public exhibitions, dematerializing the work into a social process: a place of conversation and interaction. MALL x EMBAJADA also features artist books, editions and multiples, and an exhibition space that presents an extension of the anniversary exhibition documento.

Embajada was founded in October 2015 with the intention of spotlighting Puerto Rican artists within an international contemporary art conversation. Embajada’s working model is a combination between an independent self-funded project space and a commercial gallery. It is driven by the collaborative spirit and is inspired by the idea to exist as a diplomatic mission, to create a political context through the use of aesthetic information. Over the past five years, Embajada has mounted over 20 exhibitions, participated in numerous international contemporary art fairs, and proudly represented six diverse artists of Puerto Rican, Caribbean, and Mexican descent. From the inaugural exhibition He Put a Hot Fish on Her Navel to documento, Embajada is grateful for the connections made with its collaborators and its audience.

documento (installation view), October 31, 2020–February 6, 2021, Embajada, San Juan

Jorge González, Elbow stone, 2020, Lampblack and limestone dust on, muslin, coa stick, 20 x 22 inches

Angel Otero, Untitled, 2020, silk screen on paper

Chemi Rosado-Seijo, History on Wheels series, 2020, Claudia PeñaSalinas, Castillo II, 2020

documento (installation view), October 31, 2020–February 6, 2021, Embajada, San Juan

Bubu Begron, Colillón Hibrido, 2020, found cigarette butts, tobacco, glue, 17 x 7 inches

documento (installation view), October 31, 2020–February 6, 2021, Embajada, San Juan

Alex Becerra Untitled, 2020, 8 Pencil and ink on paper drawings, 8.5 x 11 inches each

Taina Cruz, Absorbing Energy, 2020, and Danial Lind Ramos, Study for Afro-dita, 2017 and Study for Armario, 2017, Pencil on paper

documento (installation view), October 31, 2020–February 6, 2021, Embajada, San Juan

Cielo Felix-Hernández, Contra La Corriente, 2020, oil on canvas, gold satin and Juan Antonio Olivares, Untitled (octopus), 2020, graphite on paper

Juan Antonio Olivares, Untitled (octopus), 2020, graphite on paper

Antoine Carbonne, Untitled, 2019 and Joiri Minaya, Continuum, 2020, framed archival pigment print

documento (installation view), October 31, 2020–February 6, 2021, Embajada, San Juan

Paul Ramírez Jonas, Another Day, 2020, Video

Danielle De Jesús, El precio de la ciudadanía, 2020, Acrylic and oil

Peter Fend, Untitled, 2020, Collage and color pencil on paper and Gabriella Torres-Ferrer, Relentless.com (from the series Mine Your Own Business), 2020

Gabriella Torres-Ferrer, Relentless.com (from the series Mine Your Own Business), 2020, online marketplace gift box, video rental vhs case, top net worth live display

documento (installation view), October 31, 2020–February 6, 2021, Embajada, San Juan

Sofía Gallisá Muriente, Asociaciones, 2014 and Vanessa Gully Santiago, Bookkeeper, 2019

Sofía Gallisá Muriente, Asociaciones, 2014

documento (installation view), October 31, 2020–February 6, 2021, Embajada, San Juan

Wendy Cabrera Rubio, Celebridad Panamericana, 2020, synthetic felt

Curtis Talwst Santiago, Empty Wagon Leaving Slave Market II, 2016 and ASMA, Ángel caído, 2020

ASMA, Ángel caído, 2020, Oil paint on panel, brass cast with silver bath, 28 x 34 x 7 cm

documento (installation view), October 31, 2020–February 6, 2021, Embajada, San Juan

Yiyo Tirado, Elecciones I-IV, 2020

Karlo Andrei Ibarra, Inercia, 2020

documento (installation view), October 31, 2020–February 6, 2021, Embajada, San Juan

Daniel Boccato, Vollface, 2020, epoxy, fiberglass, polyurethane, 18 × 29 × 4 inches

Christine Brache, 1999-2009, 2016, Elizabeth Ferry, Blue Genie, 2020 and Vartiko García, Basado en hechos reales, 2020

documento (installation view), October 31, 2020–February 6, 2021, Embajada, San Juan

Elizabeth Jaeger, Bird, 2018, ceramic, copper, 7 x 3 x 2.5 inches

Manuel Mendoza Sánchez, En la ciudad, 2020, concrete, inkjet printed images, water based paint, sealed with car resin, 10.5 x 12 inches

documento (installation view), October 31, 2020–February 6, 2021, Embajada, San Juan

Sebastian Gutiérrez, Petri, 2020, oil on canvas, 70 x 42 inches

documento (installation view), October 31, 2020–February 6, 2021, Embajada, San Juan

Jonny Negrón, Escapee, 2018, gouache on rag paper, 30 x 22 inches

Guanina Cotto, Sanando cuchillazos, 2020, mixed media, 12 x 16 inches

Juan “Jufe” Fernandez, 1603 Agua (clip), 2020, 1080 x 1920 H.264/MPEG-4, 5 second looped digital file, media player, flatscreen, armature, various cables

documento (installation view), October 31, 2020–February 6, 2021, Embajada, San Juan

Raul Martinez, PROPAGANDA, A ONE ACT PLAY BY JOSEPH BIDEN AND DONALD TRUMP, 2016