Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, USA | Website
The central exhibition of the 2015 Biennial of the Americas creates a surprising, dynamic experience, capturing the atmosphere of life in the Western Hemisphere today. The artists in the exhibition reflect the complexity of our time – its pervasive technologies, its emergent forms of creativity and social and political engagement, its ever-changing conceptions of identity, and its interdependent, shifting economies. The exhibition raises important questions about the relationships between North, South and Central America and the Caribbean, highlighting hot-button issues and events, like recent protests in the US, political reforms in Mexico and the changing relations between the US and Cuba. Alive with images and sounds, the exhibition will be a compressed experience of our time. Open Tuesday – Friday 12 pm – 9 pm and Saturday & Sunday 10 am – 5 pm.
In this exhibition, artists from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean respond to life in the present. Some reflect on how technology changes the way we interact such as Ryan Trecartin (US), Hitashya.org (Kari Altmann) (US), and Zach Blas (US). A number of other artists in the exhibition reflect the current political climate in their countries such as Diego Berruecos (Mexico) and Marcelo Cidade (Brazil). The interconnected ecology of the Americas is another recurring theme such as Chris Coleman and Laleh Mehran (US), and Sarah Anne Johnson (Canada). Finally, a number of artists show how now is shaped by what has come before and affects what will happen next such as Mariana Castillo Deball (Mexico).Octavio Paz remarked, “the present is alternately luminous and somber.” It is at once full of potential and the site of great peril. Collectively, the artists in Now? NOW! create a complex, and sometimes conflicted image of our time in this hemisphere. The exhibition is an opportunity to ask important questions about how we live together and the actions we can take now, individually and as an international community, toward an ever more luminous future.This exhibition is curated by Lauren A. Wright, Artistic Director and Curator, Biennial of the Americas, with Anya Pantuyeva, Curatorial Assistant, Biennial of the Americas.