Museum of Contemporary Art Opens in Montevideo

By Maria Shaw

The classic Tajamar de Carrasco, nestled in Lieja and Divina Comedia, which remained closed for some years, reopens its doors as a museum, restaurant and space for events on March 6, 2012, now converted into “The Bohemian Gallery & Museum of Modern Art Montevideo” (BGMOCA MVD).

BGMOCA MVD is a cultural center, museum and contemporary art gallery, aimed at promoting art and cultural exchange through agreements with international foundations and exhibitions conducted by internationally acclaimed artists, making easier for Uruguayan artists to enter the U.S. through exhibitions showcased at galleries in the northern country.

The space also includes an exhibition hall, the Tajamar Resto and one sculpture park; independent spaces that can blend within a refined and laidback atmosphere, where nature joins art and its scents.

Tajamar Resto is the new gastronomic experience that offers Uruguayan-American cuisine and looks for the connection between art and taste, guided by Chef Luciana Scrigna and her innovative creations. There’s a modernist construction that turns into a Tea Hall in the afternoon, right in front of the sculpture park. It features one private exhibition hall, for social and business meetings, 30-person capacity, to enjoy art in the foreground, through the history and menu of the event.

The sculpture park is the largest space in the museum, a 3,946-square-yard green garden, in which an artificial pond created by artist Agueda Di Cancro stands out, matching the level of international contemporary museums.

Uruguay is totally ready, due to its wealth and stability, to allow a more active participation of artists; and thanks to BGMOCA MVD’s schedule of masterpiece exhibitions, it will create an aesthetic exchange between Uruguayan and international talents. The strength of its artistic heritage deserves to be compared and ranked historic art, and Montevideo will now count on another canal to become international within the growing world of art, with exhibitor sensibility for Uruguayan artists.

Furthermore, BGMOCA MVD provide a private section within its public spaces, giving local and foreign collectors the opportunity of acquiring artworks, thus supporting the world of art at national, continental and global levels, with more life than ever. International artworks introduced by BGMOCA MVD are expected to motive the people to “watch” beyond frontiers, enjoying the possibility of comparing, contrasting and interrelating first-category historic material from different countries, with artworks dating from the past and present of Uruguayan art.

Within its collection of contemporary art, BGMOCA MVD will be showcasing works of: Banska, Donald Baechler, Ronit Binder, Fernando Botero, William S. Burroughs, Ana Campanella, Yamandu Cuevas, Colleen Flaherty, Christopher Hayden, Fernando Fraga Imaz, Robert Indiana, Alex Katz, Terrell Moore, Neith Nevelson, Jorge Oswaldo, Julian Schnabel, Ian Stallings, Sarah Stolar, Angelo Sturiale, Donald Sultan, Ernest Trova, Andy Warhol, Meeson Pae Yang, Miguel Herrera Zorrilla, among many other first-level creators.

Limited-edition engravings are also going to be displayed: Arman, Donald Baechler, Ross Bleckner, William S. Burroughs, The Hilton Brothers, Francesco Clemente, Keith Harina, David Hockney, Jasper Johns, Deborah Kass, Alex Katz, Lucia Ferreira Litowtschenko, Robert Longo, Christopher Makos, Louise Nevelson, Mel Ramos, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Edward Ruscha, Kenny Scharf, Julian Schnabel, Tom Slaughter, Paul Solberg, Bert Stern, Donald Sultan, Ernst Trova, Andy Warhol and Tom Wesselmann.

For further information, visit www.bgmoca.org.