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Mauro Giaconi
Argentina, 1977
The work of Mauro Giaconi explores the possibilities of drawing as an expanded field, through which the artist reaches over other disciplines, such as sculpture and installation, in a way to investigate the architecture, the precariousness and the body as territories in conflict.
In this sense, the artist subverts both the role of paper as a medium, as well as the idea of drawing as the basal expression of general artistic practice. This leads towards the occupation of space, the performative gesture that emphases the corporal experience, and the intervention of objects and universal references belonging to the contemporary metanarrative.
Within the conceptual field, his works usually present contents and experiences that either clash or dissolve contrasts, such as birth and death, construction and demolition, freedom and imprisonment, in a thought-provoking gesture that revisits and questions the dichotomous signification of ideas.
Additionally, Mauro Giaconi conducts works as a critical agent for the art production system, having a co-founded in 2014 two important projects: Obrera Centro, a self-managed space for the promotion of interdisciplinary artistic experience, and HerratecA, a tools’ public library. Both cases reveal his interests on collaborative practices that create new spaces and transformative actions, under the assumption that progress and access in culture emerge from collectiveness and dialogue.
He has held solo exhibitions at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, and the Museo Universitario del Chopo, and has participated in group exhibitions at the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, the Centro Cultural Recoleta, and the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
His works are part of collections such as Colección Jumex, Fundación Calosa, SPACE Collection, and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art.
Mauro Giaconi. Un poco con tus ojos. NF/NIEVES FERNANDEZ, Madrid. 2023
Mauro Giaconi
Trepen a los techos 01
2023
Pigment and eraser on encyclopedia pages
110 x 80 cm
Tiene un destino de nube
‘Tiene un destino de nube’ [Has the fate of a cloud], whose title detaches from a song by the Uruguayan singer-songwriter Alfredo Zitarrosa, ‘El corazón de mi pueblo’ [My people’s heart], is an exhibition that explores Giaconi’s most recent works, a production that includes an extensive series of drawings on second-hand book pages, and an installation made with the rests of a building located at a corner of Chimalpopoca and Bolivar’s streets in Mexico City, one block away from the artist’s studio, prior to the latest earthquake that shook the city on September 19th, 2017.
In this exhibition, the works of Giaconi explore and reflect on the tensions between memory, deceit, territory, fragility, and appearance, manipulating and transforming objects in an effort to multiply their meanings and generate polysemic images. These images, in turn, are to be completed by the public, through their bodies, their experiences and their own decisions. In this sense, the audience will have the opportunity to transform, by chance or fate, the experiences and landscapes of the exhibition.
The ruins of the building that collapsed during the earthquake are a starting point for Giaconi, who intervenes this rubble and mixes it with other debris found in Madrid. This action proposes a confusion between reality and fiction, and memory and deceit. The rubble with no historical burden is ordinary, recovered from random constructions, whereas the one intervened by the artist has a powerful narrative related to the natural disaster and the negligence of a corrupt system that, ultimately, culminated in the death of dozens of migrant women who previously lived there, undocumented and exploited by trafficking.
In another dual operation, Giaconi presents artworks in which he decomposes books sold by their weight, rather than their contents. These books are no longer information container, but recycling or decoration material. The artist dismantles these objects, subverts their contents, rearranges them without hierarchy and intervenes them using graphite, pigments and eraser. The result of this creative process is a formal cloud that plays with the margins of the book pages and alters the perception of theses ordinary objects.
Mauro Giaconi as had solo exhibitions at BMocA (Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art), MAMBA (Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires), Museo Universitario del Chopo, and group shows at the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, Centro Cultural Recoleta and Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. His works are included among collections such as: SPACE Collection, OMI International School of Art, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, in the USA, and Colección Jumex, in Mexico. Furthermore, Giaconi has been awarded with several prizes, such as: Phillips Prize for Young Talents, within the Argentina and Latin America’s rounds, Painting Salon UADE, Argentina’s National Drawing Salon, and ArteBA–Petrobrás Prize in Argentina.
The waste, the work, the rest, the remnant, the swill, the memory, the lie, the heart, the evidence, the obsolete, the weight, the overweight, the song, the fracture, the overflow, the anarchic, the regulated, an oxymoron, the individual, the body, the asemic, the shape of a cloud, its un-shape, that transits, static, without borders, amorphous, unstable, that assembles, disassembles and reassembles constantly, that will be rain, downpour, storm, collapse.
Mauro Giaconi
Mauro Giaconi
Tiene un destino de nube
2018
Real and intervened debris
Mauro Giaconi
Mirarse en el espejo
2023
Pigment and eraser on printing discards.
160 x 206 cm
Mauro Giaconi. Un poco con tus ojos. NF/NIEVES FERNANDEZ, Madrid. 2023
Mauro Giaconi
Un problema añejo
2023
Pigment, graphite, pastel, and eraser on various pages
160 x 206 cm
Mauro Giaconi
Flujo subterráneo
2020
Pencil on paper
210 x 143 cm
Mauro Giaconi
Serie De-constructivismo. (Educación III)
2018
Graphite and eraser on 4 pages of a book on education
24 x 31 cm
Mauro Giaconi
Atlas Internacional
2018
Graphite on paper
36 x 25,5 cm
Mauro Giaconi
Serie De-constructivismo universal (pintura)
2018
Graphite and eraser on pages of a book on Uruguayan painting
113 x 150 cm
Mauro Giaconi. Tiene un destino de nube. NF/NIEVES FERNANDEZ, Madrid. 2018
Mauro Giaconi
Serie De-constructivismo universal (con fragmentos)
2018
Graphite, eraser, and fragments of dry paint on 4 pages of bond paper
45 x 45 cm
Mauro Giaconi
Biblioteca (Colegio Dante Alighieri)
2018
Graphite on paper
27 x 20 cm
Mauro Giaconi
Dibujo geométrico
2018
Graphite and eraser on pages of a book on education
19 x 14 x 9 cm
Mauro Giaconi
Jesús
2018
Graphite and eraser on pages of a book about Theology
17 x 11 x 9 cm
Mauro Giaconi
Untitled
2018
Powdered graphite, pigments, and eraser on pages of a book
95,4 x 130 cm
Mauro Giaconi
Desintegración
2018
Drawings on 13 pages from the book ‘Historia Universal’
83,5 x 50 cm
Mauro Giaconi
Serie De-constructivismo (Educación V)
2018
Graphite and eraser on XXX pages of a book on Education and Good Manners.
117 x 53 cm
Mauro Giaconi
Serie De-constructivismo (Educación II)
2018
Graphite and eraser on pages of a book on education.
75 x 82 cm
Mauro Giaconi. Desde el fondo del tiempo. Museo Universitario del Chopo, Ciudad de México. 2016
Mauro Giaconi
Estallido 4
2017
Graphite and eraser on a map
159 x 219 cm
Mauro Giaconi
Serie Geo-Poesías
2016
Lithography on paper
36,5 x 49,5 cm
Mauro Giaconi
Cartabón y piedra (serie Geo Poesía)
2015
Graphite and eraser on a map
23 x 30 cm
Mauro Giaconi
Solo Exhibitions
2018
Tiene un destino de nube. NF/NIEVES FERNÁNDEZ, Madrid, Spain
2017
Cae a plomo (desde el fondo del tiempo). BMocA – Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Colorado
2016
Desde el fondo del tiempo. Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City
IMPERMANENCIA. Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City
2015
Estado Fallido. Bendana Pinel Art Contemporain, Paris
2014
Revuelta. Dot Fiftyone Gallery, Miami
2013
OCUPACIÓN. Casa Vecina, Mexico City
Ruin is Abstraction. VoltaNY, New York
2012
Atravesar. Galería Nueveochenta, Bogotá
Temporada de Plomo. Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City
PARTIR. Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
2011
Pinta NY. Galería Dot Fifty One, New York
2010
Paralelo Inmenso. Dot Fifty One Gallery, Miami
2009
Entropía. Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City
2008
AQUULA. LaboHO Galerie, Marseille
Fractura Expuesta. Zavaleta LAB, Buenos Aires
2007
“(…)”. Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City
2006
Unburden. Dot Fifty One Gallery, Miami
2005
Estante. Centro Cultural de España, Buenos Aires
Estacionamiento. Galería El Poste, Centro Cultural Rojas, Buenos Aires
En Obra. Galería Alberto Sendrós (Asga), Buenos Aires
2004
COLUMNA. Centro Cultural de España, Buenos Aires
Group Exhibitions
2020
El animal herido. Museo Experimental El ECO, Mexico City
2018
Spatial Flux. Gregory Allicar Museum of Art (Colorado State University), Fort Collins
2016
Entrecejo. NF/NIEVES FERNÁNDEZ, Madrid
Zona MACO. Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City
2015
Amplificar (project in collaboration with Omar Barquet and José Luis Landet). Document Art Galería, Buenos Aires
Drawing Now Art Fair. Bendana Pinel Art Contemporain, Paris
Bruit Noir / Black Noise. Espacio Mexico, Mexican Consulate in Montreal
Ser o no Sur. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Tamaulipas, Tamaulipas
2014
Júbilo. El Ojo Errante, Buenos Aires
Esa idea tiene una imagen. Centro Cultural Haroldo Conti, Buenos Aires
Diferencias sobre lo blanco. Casa Galería, Mexico City
OMI Open Studio. OMI International Art Center, New York
ARCO Madrid. Project in collaboration with José Luis Landet and Omar Barquet, Madrid
2013
Ser o no Sur. Museo José Luis Cuevas, Mexico City
Panorámica, Paisaje 2013-1969. Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City
2012
LA to LA, selection from Sayago Pardon Collection. Los Angeles
Lo común y lo colectivo. Galería Libertad, Querétaro
Últimas Tendencias II. Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires
Al final solo se trata de sueños rotos. Casino Metropolitano, Mexico City
Zona MACO. Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City
2011
ArtBo. Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Bogotá
Denominazione Origene Contemporaneo. Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires
ArteBA. Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Buenos Aires
ArteBa. Dot Fifty One Gallery, Buenos Aires
SP-arte. Galería Eduardo Fernandes, São Paulo
2010
Zona MACO. Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City
Becarios CIA. Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires
2009
Pulse Miami. Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Miami
Paper Trail V.5. Judi Rotenberg Gallery, Boston
Feria Arte Américas. Dot Fiftyone Gallery, Miami
Clínica de obra a cargo de Dolores Zinni y Juan Maidagan. Fundación Proa, Buenos Aires
2006
D.L.A. ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art), London
Land Escape. Dot Fifty-One Gallery, Miami
ArtMiami. Dot Fifty-One Gallery, Miami
2005
It Happened One Summer. Dot Fiftyone Gallery, Miami
2004
ID International. Dot Fifty-One Gallery, Miami
Estudio Abierto 2004. Palacio Barolo, Buenos Aires
WorkShop, with Luis Camnitzer. Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires
2003
Entre Líneas, curated by Rodrigo Alonso. Galería Alberto Sendrós, Buenos Aires
Boquitas Pintadas. Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires
Awards
2012
SITAC Fellowship (Symposium of Theory and Contemporary Art). Clínicas de Educación, Mexico City
2010
Jury Stimulus Award. Salón de Pintura UADE, Buenos Aires
Centro de Investigaciones Artísticas Fellowship, Buenos Aires
2006
Jury Honorary Mention. Salón Nacional de Dibujo, Buenos Aires
2005
Second Prize ArteBA–Petrobrás 2005, Buenos Aires
Accésit Award. Salón Iberoamericano de Pintura Aerolíneas Argentinas, Buenos Aires
Jury Honorary Mention. Salón Nacional de Dibujo, Buenos Aires
First Prize ArteBA–Petrobrás 2005, with production subsidy, Buenos Aires
2004
First Prize in the National Stage of the “Phillips Prize for Young Talents,” with exhibition at the Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires
2001
Fourth Prize in the Latin American Stage of the “Phillips Prize for Young Talents,” with exhibition at Fundação Memorial da América Latina, Galería Marta Traba, São Paulo
Residencies
2014
OMI International Art Center, New York
2013
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine
2012
Bemis Center of Contemporary Art, Nebraska
Museums and Collections
SPACE Collection, Los Angeles, USA
JoAnn Gonzalez Hickey Collection, New York, USA
La Colección Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico
OMI International School of Art, New York, USA
Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, USA