Press RoomPhoenix Art Museum presents largest US museum exhibition of Brazilian artist Valeska Soares’ installations, sculptures, multisensory works
Phoenix Art Museum presents largest US museum exhibition of Brazilian artist Valeska Soares’ installations, sculptures, multisensory works
Mar, 02, 2018
Exhibitions and Special InstallationsModern and Contemporary ArtLatin American Art
Phoenix Art Museum presents largest US museum exhibition of Brazilian artist Valeska Soares’ installations, sculptures, multisensory works
Valeska Soares: Any Moment Now represents a collaboration between Phoenix
Art Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and the Getty-led initiative,
Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA
PHOENIX
(March 2, 2018) – Phoenix Art
Museum presents Valeska
Soares: Any Moment Now, a
collaboration with the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) and the largest
museum exhibition in the United States to date of the contemporary Brazilian
artist’s work. From March 24 through July 15, visitors will have the
opportunity to see 49 diverse artworks, from installations and sculptures to photography
and video, ranging in date from the mid-1990s to the present. This major
mid-career survey introduces viewers to distinctive works that deal with themes
of love, longing, desire, memory, and time, often incorporating experiential
qualities like scent, touch, and even taste. The exhibition also substantiates Soares’
important role in international innovations in installation art. Valeska Soares: Any Moment Now originated
as part of the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative,
a far-reaching and ambitious exploration of Latin American and Latino art in
dialogue with Los Angeles.
“We
are delighted to collaborate with the Santa Barbara Museum of Art to bring the
works of Valeska Soares to our community,” said Amada Cruz, the Sybil
Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art Museum. “The Museum is proud to extend
the Getty’s initiative to share the best of Latin American art with our region.
This is a significant partnership for our museum, and we look forward to
sharing Soares’ unique, evocative installations and other works with our
visitors.”
Valeska Soares: Any Moment Now features iconic works that have come to define Soares’ artistic
approach, presenting the universal themes and experiential approaches that the
artist has explored for nearly three decades. Often incorporating found objects
and ephemeral materials, Soares’ works act as triggers for personal memories
and individual interpretations. The titular installation, Any Moment Now…, is composed of 271 out of an original 365 vintage
book jackets mounted on canvas, charting the passage of time over the course of
the four seasons through evocative titles like The
Winter of Our Discontent, Lost Springtime,and Now or Never.Soares’ artworks can also serve as metaphors
for intimate, everyday experience, as in Duet
I (from the After series), two
pillows carved from white marble, complete with the imaginary imprints of the
heads they once cradled. The presence of scent is also a crucial element of
Soares’ work. Fainting Couch is a steel
floor sculpture whose surface is perforated with small holes; the Stargazer
lilies hidden inside perfume the surrounding space. In this way, Soares imbues
the cool, neutral characteristics of 20th-century abstract sculpture,
by artists such as Donald Judd, with a deeply human dimension, opening Museum
visitors to the possibility of having a visceral, even emotional experience of
conceptual art rather than a primarily intellectual one. Evoking universal
subject matter with a polished style, Soares’ work insists on the primacy of
the viewer’s experiences and memories in creating meaning, and functions as a trigger
for experience and active engagement.
Museum
visitors will also have an opportunity to experience one of Soares’ works that
is made to be eaten. Push Pull
features giant masses of saltwater taffy dangling from specially fabricated
stainless steel hooks. Performers at various stations push and pull the taffy
in a continuous movement to generate continually morphing sculptures. In collaboration
with Kreëmart, the artist handpicks the various taffies, each with a different
color and flavor. Visitors are invited to receive pieces of each sculpture,
tasting the results of this collective labor—a literal way of “consuming” the
work of art. These undulating sculptures may suggest the atmosphere of
carnival; Soares here explores the connotations of sugar as a catalyst for
desire and excess. (See the Related Programs section below for dates and times
of Push Pull.)
“Soares
is at once a generous and demanding artist. She rewards visitors who linger
with radically new ways of engaging with art objects, not just visually, but
also viscerally and intellectually,” said Vanessa Davidson, PhD, the Shawn and
Joe Lampe Curator of Latin American Art. “This landmark exhibition celebrates
Soares’ achievements and affords our visitors opportunities to become active
participants, the artist’s own accomplices.”
The exhibition will be accompanied by an
illustrated, 190-page monograph. This catalog features 75 color plates and four
texts written by exhibition co-curators Davidson and Julie Joyce (SBMA) with
contributions by Jens Hoffmann (Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit), Rodrigo
Moura (Instituto Inhotim), and Júlia Rebouças (Co-curator of 2016 São Paulo
Biennial). In accordance with the aims of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, the catalog
serves to expand upon the goals of the exhibition by attesting to Soares’
radical innovations, connecting her work to the history of Latin American art as
well as the broader international context of contemporary art, and expanding the
understanding of art from Latin America in the 21st century. Any
Moment Now is one of a suite of exhibitions within
this initiative to be featured outside of California.
About the Exhibition
Valeska
Soares: Any Moment Now is organized by
Phoenix Art Museum and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art through major grants
from the Getty Foundation. The exhibition at Phoenix Art Museum is made
possible by the generous support of Shawn and Joe Lampe and by grant funding
awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works.
The exhibition will be accompanied by
an illustrated, 190-page monograph featuring 75 color plates and four
illustrated scholarly texts, written by the exhibition curators and additional
contributors. For more details about the exhibition, please visit phxart.org/exhibition/valeska-soares.
This special engagement exhibition is
free for Museum Members and past and present members of the Military. During
normal admission hours, this exhibition is included in the price of general
admission. During voluntary-donation, free-access times, when general admission
is free of charge, entrance to this exhibition is $5. Free-access times include
Wednesdays from 3 – 9 pm, the first Fridays of every month from 6 – 10 pm, and
the second weekend of each month (Saturday from 10am – 5pm and Sunday from Noon
– 5pm). For a full breakdown of general admission prices and hours, please see bit.ly/VisitPhxArt.
To request interviews and
high-resolution photography, contact Phoenix Art Museum’s Marketing and
Communications Office, at 602.257.2105 or email margaree.bigler@phxart.org. To download
media images, please click here.
Push Pull features giant masses of saltwater taffy dangling from
specially fabricated stainless steel hooks. Performers at various stations push
and pull the taffy in a continuous movement to generate continually morphing
sculptures. In collaboration with Kreëmart, the artist handpicks the various
taffies, each with a different color and flavor. Visitors are invited to
receive pieces of each sculpture, tasting the results of this collective
labor—a literal way of “consuming” the work of art. These undulating sculptures
may suggest the atmosphere of carnival; Soares here explores the connotations
of sugar as a catalyst for desire and excess.
Logan Lecture Series: Valeska Soares
March 21 | 6:30
pm
As part of the Logan Lecture Series, Valeska Soares will be
in person at the Museum to speak about her work in the context of the
exhibition, Valeska Soares: Any Moment
Now. Tickets are free for Museum
Members and $5 for non-Members. Space is limited. For more details, please
visit the Museum’s online calendar.
Members’ Preview
Day
March 23 | 10 am –
5 pm
Phoenix Art Museum Members are invited to preview the
exhibition before it opens to the public.
Opening Day
March 24 | 10 am –
5 pm
Valeska Soares:
Any Moment Now opens to the public.
College Night
March 28 | 6 – 9
pm
Calling all students! Enjoy a night just for higher-ed
students at Phoenix Art Museum. See Valeska
Soares: Any Moment Now for free, and take advantage of a discounted $2
student ticket (please bring your ID) to see the special exhibition, Iris Van Herpen Transforming Fashion. There will also be music provided by local DJs, on-site
food trucks, art-making workshops led by the Creative Fellows from ASU’s
Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts, and art by ASU Barrett Honors
College students on view in the Museum’s Wilde Plaza.
Artist’s Choice:
Valeska Soares Film Series
April 8, May 20,
June 24 | 2 pm
Join us for a series of films, chosen by the artist herself,
that have influenced Soares’ approach and illustrate parallels to her artistic
practice. Film selections will be announced soon.
Discount Tire Free
Family Weekend May: Wonder
May 12 | 12:30,
1:30, 2:30
May 13 | 12:30,
1:30, 2:30
Movement artist Julie Akerly draws inspiration from Valeska Soares: Any Moment Now in an
interactive performance for visitors of all ages and skill levels. Akerly has
an MFA in Dance and Interdisciplinary Media and Performance from Arizona State
University. She is co-founder of [nueBOX], a residency
program that supports artists creating experimental, collaborative, and
research-based work in Arizona.
About Valeska Soares
Valeska
Soares received her BA in Architecture at the University Santa Ursula in Rio de
Janeiro in 1987 and her MA in History of Art and Architecture at the Pontificia
Universidade Católica, Rio de Janeiro in 1990. She began her career as a
professional artist exhibiting in Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, and São
Paulo. Soares’ unique vision has earned her inclusion in numerous international
exhibitions, including two Venice Biennales (2011, 2005), several São Paulo
Biennials (2009, 1998, 1994), the Sharjah Biennial (2009), the Taipei Biennal
(2006), the Liverpool Biennial (2004), inSITE San Diego/Tijuana (2000-01), and
the Havana Biennial (1991). Her pieces are included in museum collections
belonging to the Tate Modern (London), the Hirshhorn Museum (Washington, D.C.),
the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles), the Guggenheim Museum (New
York), the Daros Foundation (Zurich), and the Inhotim Centro de Arte
Contemporânea (Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil), among many others. For more
information about the artist, please visit valeskasoares.net.
About Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA
Pacific
Standard Time: LA/LA was a far-reaching and ambitious
exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles that
took place from September 2017 through January 2018. Led by the Getty, Pacific
Standard Time: LA/LA was a collaboration of arts institutions across Southern
California. Through a series of thematically linked exhibitions and programs,
Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA highlighted different aspects of Latin American
and Latino art from the ancient world to the present day. With topics such as
luxury arts in the pre-Columbian Americas, 20th century Afro-Brazilian art,
alternative spaces in Mexico City, and boundary-crossing practices of Latino
artists, exhibitions ranged from monographic studies of individual artists to
broad surveys that cut across numerous countries. Initiated through $16 million
in grants from the Getty Foundation, Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA involved more
than 70 cultural institutions from Los Angeles to Palm Springs, and from San
Diego to Santa Barbara. Pacific Standard Time is an initiative of the Getty.
The presenting sponsor was Bank of America. For further information, please
visit pacificstandardtime.org.
About the Santa Barbara Museum of Art
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is a privately funded, not-for-profit institution that
presents internationally recognized collections and exhibitions and a broad
array of cultural and educational activities as well as travel opportunities
around the world.
About Phoenix Art Museum
Phoenix Art Museum
has provided access to visual arts and educational programs in Arizona for more
than 50 years and is the largest art museum in the Southwestern United States.
Critically acclaimed national and international exhibitions are shown alongside
the Museum’s permanent collection of more than 18,000 works of American, Asian, European, Latin American, Western American, modern and
contemporary art, and fashion design. The Museum also presents festivals, a comprehensive film program, live performances and educational
programs designed to enlighten, entertain and stimulate visitors of all ages.
Visitors also enjoy vibrant photography exhibitions through the
Museum’s landmark partnership with the Center
for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. To learn
more about Phoenix Art Museum, visitphxart.org, or call the 24-hour recorded information line at 602.257.1222.
