Cosmopolitan Routes: Houston Collects Latin American Art

Cosmopolitan Routes: Houston Collects Latin American Art celebrates the ten-year anniversary of the Latin American art department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the vital collection of art it has amassed in a short timeframe. Supported by a collecting community made up of the Founding Members and Latin Maecenas, the MFAH patron group dedicated to supporting and promoting Latin American and Latino art—the first and only patron group of its kind in the United States—the MFAH has acquired more than 400 modern and contemporary Latin American artworks and has become a leader in the field. Inspired by the department's mission to build a high-quality collection, organize groundbreaking exhibitions, uncover new research and educate diverse audiences about Latin American and Latino art, supporters have accompanied the MFAH's collecting activities since the department's inception by both acquiring works for the museum and building their own collections. Cosmopolitan Routes encompasses over 100 works of art all culled from the private collections of MFAH supporters, the majority of which are based in Houston, but a number live at least part-time elsewhere around the world.

On view through February 6, 2011, the exhibition is guest curated by Gilbert Vicario, curator at the Des Moines Art Center (and formerly assistant Latin American art curator at MFAH), with support from Mari Carmen Ramírez, MFAH Wortham curator of Latin American art and director of the International Center for the Arts of the Americas (ICAA), and Elizabeth Cerejido, MFAH assistant curator of Latin American and Latino art. A catalogue co-published by the MFAH and Yale University Press, and distributed by Yale University Press, will accompany the exhibition, available in February 2011.

"The creation of the museum's Latin American art department would not have been possible without the pioneering vision of the patrons who make up the Latin Maecenas," said MFAH director Dr. Peter C. Marzio. "These generous individuals took the lead in supporting this under-recognized field, both at the museum and in their own collecting initiatives, and this exhibition will be a great opportunity to see their outstanding, privately held works on public view."

Diverse artistic expressions represented in the exhibition include the School of the South, Brazil's Concrete and Neo-Concrete avant-garde movements from the 1940s through the '60s, figurative and surrealist works, video, photography and contemporary installations. Work by artists first introduced to many in the 2004 MFAH exhibition Inverted Utopias: Avant-Garde Art in Latin America will be significantly represented—from Joaquín Torres-Garcia and Xul Solar to Julio Alpuy, Luis Benedit, Lygia Clark, Pedro Figari, Gonzalo Fonseca, Gego, Francisco Matto, Luis Felipe Noé, Mira Schendel, Jesús Soto, and Jorge de la Vega. Works by contemporary Latin American and Latino artists using unexpected materials and new media will also be on view, including Magdalena Fernández, Luis Jiménez, Gabriel de la Mora, Oscar Muñoz, Rivane Neuenschwander, and Dario Robleto. Many of these pieces have never been on view outside of the collectors' homes and will be presented publicly for the first time.

Artists Featured in Cosmopolitan Routes: Houston Collects Latin American Art Carlos Almaraz Julio Alpuy José Balmes Luis Fernando Benedit Antonio Berni Fernando Bryce Leonora Carrington Emilio Chapela Paulo Climachauska Phil Collins Nicola Costantino Elias Crespin Magdalena Fernández Pedro Figari Gonzalo Fonseca Pedro Friedeberg Gego Thomas Glassford Matthias Goeritz Máximo González Edward James Luis Jiménez Guillermo Kuitca Wifredo Lam Gerd Leufert Antonio Llorens Francisco Matto Carlos Mérida Grupo Mondongo Gabriel de la Mora Oscar Muñoz Vik Muniz Ernesto Neto Rivane Neuenschwander Luis Felipe Noé Hélio Oiticica Emilio Pettoruti Marcelo Pombo Liliana Porter Alice Rahon res Diego Rivera Dario Robleto Miguel Ángel Rojas Betsabeé Romero Doris Salcedo Mira Schendel Xul Solar Jesús Rafael Soto Fernando de Szyszlo Augusto Torres Joaquín Torres-Garcia Cordelia Urueta Pablo Vargas Lugo Jorge de la Vega Gabriel Acevedo Velarde

Collectors Featured in Cosmopolitan Routes: Houston Collects Latin American Art Gail and Louis Adler Mary and Bernardino Arocha Allison and David Ayers Carlos Bacino Frances and Dr. Donald Baxter Tanya Brillembourg Leslie and Brad Bucher Cecilia and Dr. Luis T. Campos Mary and Roy Cullen Barbara and Michael Gamson Eugenia and Eduardo C. Grüneisen Cecilia and Tomás Gunz Sofia Adrogué and Sten L. Gustafson Diane and Bruce Halle Celina Hellmund Carola and John Herrin Maria Christina and Pablo Henning Olive M. Jenney Rebecca Elizabeth Leach Cornelia and Meredith J. Long Sara S. and William V. Morgan Anne and Jack Moriniere Marilyn Oshman Ernesto Poma Carlos Cruz Puga Frank Ribelin Rose Mary and Antonio Salum María Inés Sicardi Judy and Charles W. Tate Juan Carlos Uriarte Renée Wallace Carolina and Sergio G. Weitzman Gabriel Werthein Joanna and Richard Wortham III Linda and Peter Zweig Private Collections

Cosmopolitan Routes: Houston Collects Latin American Art
Celebrates the Ten-Year Anniversary of the Latin American Art Department at the MFAH
Kuratoren: Gilbert Vicario, Mari Carmen Ramírez, Elizabeth Cerejido

Künstler: Carlos Almaraz, Julio Alpuy, Jose Balmes, Luis Fernando Benedit, Antonio Berni, Fernando Bryce, Leonora Carrington, Emilio Chapela, Paulo Climachauska, Phil Collins, Nicola Costantino, Elias Crespin, Magdalena Fernandez, Pedro Figari, Gonzalo Fonseca, Pedro Friedeberg, Gego , Thomas Glassford, Matthias Goeritz, Maximo Gonzalez, Edward James, Luis Jimenez, Guillermo Kuitca, Wifredo Lam, Gerd Leufert, Antonio Llorens, Francisco Matto, Carlos Merida, Grupo Mondongo, Gabriel de la Mora, Oscar Muñoz, Vik Muniz, Ernesto Neto, Rivane Neuenschwander, Luis Felipe Noe, Hélio Oiticica, Emilio Pettoruti, Marcelo Pombo, Liliana Porter, Alice Rahon, res , Diego Rivera, Dario Robleto, Miguel Angel Rojas, Betsabee Romero, Doris Salcedo, Mira Schendel, Xul Solar, Jesús Rafael Soto, Fernando de Szyszlo, Augusto Torres, Joaquín Torres-García, Cordelia Urueta, Pablo Vargas Lugo, Jorge de la Vega, Gabriel Acevedo Velarde