Don't miss 'Lautréamont in Miami'

CIFO Talks will be hosting Luis Camnitzer and Gean Moreno in a discussion following the ongoing exhibition, Intersections (after Lautréamont). They will focus on differing views regarding Miami today, and its current relationship with Latin America and the United States. This CIFO Talk will discuss the global impact of the growing influx of Latinos in Miami, creating the new capital of Latin America. CIFO's Director and Curator Eugenio Valdés Figueroa, wants the audience to imagine themselves in Isidore Ducasse's (Lautréamont) position, when in the late XIX century he emigrated from Uruguay to Paris. Lautréamont's writings parallel modern themes of estrangement, disturbing crossroads, and poetic collisions.

"Caught in the dilemma between being the edge and the top, between being surface and symbol, the idea of reinventing Miami as 'the capital of Latin America' can be problematic. A sense of belonging and spreading roots has gained authority over the stereotypes such as 'the city of sun and frivolity' or 'the nostalgic city of temporary refuge.' This does not exclude the risk of replacing old labels with new. From other perspectives, the willingness and pride in becoming 'another capital for Latin Americans' is remarkable." said Eugenio Valdés Figueroa.

Luis Camnitzer is a German-born Uruguayan artist. He is Professor Emeritus of Art at the State University of New York at Old Westbury. He holds degrees in painting and architecture from the Instituto Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes. He is a Guggenheim printmaking fellow, an honorary Member of the Academy in Florence, has represented Uruguay in the Venice and Whitney Biennials, has received honors from the Argentine Association of Art Critics the Konex Mercosur Award, the Frank Jewitt Mather award, A Skowhegan Medal, a USA Ford Fellow award, among many others.

His work is in the collections of over forty museums; Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Sao Paulo; Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires and the Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo de Costa Rica. He is the author of; New Art of Cuba, as well as On Art, Artists, Latin America and Other Utopias and many others.

Gean Moreno is an artist and writer based in Miami. His work has been exhibited at the MoCA North Miami, Kunsthaus Palais Thum and Taxis in Bregenz, Institute of Visual Arts in Milwaukee, Haifa Museum in Israel, Arndt & Partner in Zürich, and Invisible-Exports in New York. He has contributed texts to various magazines and catalogues. In 2008, he founded [NAME] Publications. He is currently Artistic Director of Cannonball, a non-profit arts organization in downtown Miami.

October 27, 2015 | CIFO Art Space | 6 pm