Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa: The House at Kawinal

(Wednesday) (Sunday)

Engaging fantasy and allegory, Ramírez-Figueroa’s installations combine sculpture and experimental theater to transfigure everyday images and objects into symbolic tableaux. Though the artist’s works often exude a sense of whimsy and playfulness, they also allude to tragic and traumatic events that have shaped the social and political climate of present-day Guatemala.



“The House at Kawinal,” the artist’s first solo exhibition in the US, presents a recent performance for video, Life in his Mouth, Death Cradles her Arm (2016), together with a new body of sculptures inspired in part by the artist’s research into the effects of the construction of the Chixoy Hydroelectric Dam in Guatemala in the early 1980s. To build the dam, the Guatemalan government forcibly displaced thousands of Achi Mayan people through brutal military-led massacres that wiped out villages throughout the Chixoy River Valley. The flooding caused by the dam also submerged the Late Mayan (1100–1524 AD) city of Kawinal, the ruins of which are now largely invisible and inaccessible. For his New Museum installation, Ramírez-Figueroa presents a series of figurative works that suggest a lost and fragmented domestic space and evoke this violent displacement to reflect on its lasting impact on families, indigenous heritage, and the natural landscape.



The exhibition is curated by Natalie Bell, Associate Curator.



Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa was born in 1978 in Guatemala City, Guatemala, where he currently lives and works. Recent solo exhibitions include Kunsthalle Lissabon (2017); CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, France (2017); Museum Haus Esters, Krefeld, Germany (2017); and Gasworks, London (2015). His works have been included in the Venice Biennale (2017); the São Paulo Biennial (2016); the Lyon Biennale (2015); and the Gwangju Biennial (2014), among many others. His performances have been hosted by the Guggenheim Museum, New York (2017); KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2016); Tate Modern, London (2015); and Castello di Rivoli, Italy (2013). The artist received the Mies van der Rohe Award (2017), a DAAD fellowship (2015), and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (2012).

Selection of further exhibitions in:

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Mexican and Latino Art Museum | San Francisco | In Association With The Smithsonian Institution - Th
Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd., Building D
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Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa: The House at Kawinal New Museum Main address: New Museum 235 Bowery NY 10002 New York, New Museum 235 Bowery NY 10002 New York, Engaging fantasy and allegory, Ramírez-Figueroa’s installations combine sculpture and experimental theater to transfigure everyday images and objects into symbolic tableaux. Though the artist’s works often exude a sense of whimsy and playfulness, they also allude to tragic and traumatic events that have shaped the social and political climate of present-day Guatemala.



“The House at Kawinal,” the artist’s first solo exhibition in the US, presents a recent performance for video, Life in his Mouth, Death Cradles her Arm (2016), together with a new body of sculptures inspired in part by the artist’s research into the effects of the construction of the Chixoy Hydroelectric Dam in Guatemala in the early 1980s. To build the dam, the Guatemalan government forcibly displaced thousands of Achi Mayan people through brutal military-led massacres that wiped out villages throughout the Chixoy River Valley. The flooding caused by the dam also submerged the Late Mayan (1100–1524 AD) city of Kawinal, the ruins of which are now largely invisible and inaccessible. For his New Museum installation, Ramírez-Figueroa presents a series of figurative works that suggest a lost and fragmented domestic space and evoke this violent displacement to reflect on its lasting impact on families, indigenous heritage, and the natural landscape.



The exhibition is curated by Natalie Bell, Associate Curator.



Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa was born in 1978 in Guatemala City, Guatemala, where he currently lives and works. Recent solo exhibitions include Kunsthalle Lissabon (2017); CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, France (2017); Museum Haus Esters, Krefeld, Germany (2017); and Gasworks, London (2015). His works have been included in the Venice Biennale (2017); the São Paulo Biennial (2016); the Lyon Biennale (2015); and the Gwangju Biennial (2014), among many others. His performances have been hosted by the Guggenheim Museum, New York (2017); KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2016); Tate Modern, London (2015); and Castello di Rivoli, Italy (2013). The artist received the Mies van der Rohe Award (2017), a DAAD fellowship (2015), and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (2012).
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