Emanuel Tovar

EMANUEL TOVAR

Emanuel Tovar (b. 1974) was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he currently lives and works. Tovar’s practice departs from the conflicts and vulnerabilities of the human condition. He is interested in matter and sculpture as a reflection of the social context, and as a media for the construction of dialogues. Tovar´s geometric deconstructions, which seem to be mere formal exercises, function as metaphors for the disintegration of structural lines that fracture and transform. Fragility is a constant in his creative search while questioning social schemes and those of art itself. Using forgotten materials and elements, recycled, reused and recuperated from a social context in which consumerism is prevalent and social classes are increasingly more pronounced, he creates systems through a chaotic precarious process. Similar to the practices that occur in conflictive contexts (where construction is made with the most elemental and close at hand materials), generating tensions to make the viewer aware of that which prevails in the near perimeter; to recuperate the “other” histories that grow like parasites fed by the waste of society. Tovar thinks of the periphery as a retaining belt of capitalist societies, where he finds abstract realities in a fleeting context of fragile economy, of perishable architectures removed from the established order. To discuss precariousness, to reflect on the power of action, human labor, and work, establishing settings where it seems as though the system is cracking. His works become postcards that portray the suburban chaos in a kind of an antithesis of aesthetic perfection.  

EDUCATION

2001 BFA with a major in sculpture, Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico 2000 II Encuentro internacional de Profesores y Estudiantes de Artes Plásticas, Havana, Cuba  

CURRENT AND UPCOMING

Group exhibition Der Arf Nira En Egar U.O.C., Rinomina & NERI | Barranco, Mexico City October 10, 2019

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2017 Solo Project for PARC’ Peru with Páramo, Lima Peru Viaje inmaterial, Páramo, Guadalajara, Mexico 2016 Un surco en la nada, Cuadro22, Switzerland La huida del tiempo, Obra Gris, Guadalajara, Mexico 2014 La conspiración de las bestias, Diéresis, Guadalajara, Mexico 2011 El trabajo te hará libre, Museo de Arte Zapopan, Zapopan, Mexico 2009 El triunfo de la voluntad, Charro Negro, Zapopan, Mexico Gloria Desierta, en Casa Del Lago, Mexico City 2007 White Dumbo Flying Over Infonavit, Museo de las Artes, Guadalajara, Mexico 2005 Súper Punk, Arena México, Guadalajara, Mexico 2003 Bombiux-Tix-Tix, Museo Raúl Anguiano, Guadalajara, Mexico  

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019 Der Arf Nira En Egar U.O.C., Rinomina & NERI | Barranco, Mexico City Sumatorio, Museo Carrillo Gil, Mexico City Páramo | GNP ArteCareyes Film & Art Festival, Careyes, Mexico 2018 Courage! Near Infra Red, curated by Abraham Cruzvillegas at Rinomina Gallery, Paris, France Cycles of Collapsing Progress, Contemporary Art Exhibition Mexico x Lebanon, curated by Karina El Helou in partnership with Anissa Touati, Tripoli, Lebanon 2017 El día es azul el silencio es verde la vida es amarilla, curated by Paola Santoscoy, Museo Experimental El Eco, Mexico City 127, Páramo | 127, New York, USA Monumentos, anti-Monumentos y nueva escultura pública, Museo Universitario del CHOPO, Mexico City A Poet*hical Wager, MOCA, Cleveland, USA Vuelos y cantos dentro de un edificio que llora, Guadalajara 90210, Edificio Fermín Riestra, Guadalajara, Mexico Monumentos, anti-Monumentos y Nueva Escultura Pública, Museo de Arte Zapopan, Zapopan, Mexico 2016 Destroy your humanity, Gabinete Homo-Extraterrestre, The Mistake Room, Los Angeles, USA La huida del tiempo, Obra Gris, Guadalajara, Mexico Reconstrucción, a project by Abraham Cruzvillegas, Museo de Arte de Zapopan, Guadalajara, Mexico 2015 La llamada del Dios Extraño # 2, Museo de la Pintores Oaxaqueños, Oaxaca, Mexico Under Construction, Páramo Gallery, Guadalajara, Mexico Mi mano izquierda, Casa Taller José Clemente Orozco, PAOS, Guadalajara, Mexico 2014 Leviatán, Museo Raúl Anguiano, Guadalajara, Mexico 2013 Sin necesidad de profecías, Diéresis Gallery, Guadalajara Mexico 2011 Everything Must Go, Casey Kaplan, New York, USA 2010 “Traveling Show” & “El Gabinete Blanco”, Colección Jumex, Mexico City 2008 El norte del sur, Baró Cruz, Sao Paulo, Brazil The Best Art Work in the World (or The Portrait of the Artist), Charro Negro, Guadalajara, Mexico Standing On One Foot, TPS (Triangle Project Space), San Antonio, TX, USA 2007 YAQ, La Planta Arte Contemporáneo Omnilife, Guadalajara, Mexico One Foot High and Rising, The Balmoral, Los Angeles, CA, USA Babylon, VIII Festival de Arte Contemporáneo de Barcelona, Centro de Cultura de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain 2006 Distort, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City … un minuto por favor, Casa Taller José Clemente Orozco, Guadalajara, Mexico 2005 Declaraciones, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain 2004 Sólo los Personajes Cambian, MARCO, Monterrey, Mexico La Relatividad del Tiempo y los distintos sistemas de referencia, curated by Patrick Charpenel, OPA, Guadalajara, Mexico  

PERFORMANCES

2019 Cantos Baldíos, Isla de Mezcala, Jalisco, Mexico Timonero inmerso en la oscuridad, The Mistake Room 5th anniversary, Los Angeles, USA Mira, yo he puesto delante de ti una puerta abierta que nadie puede cerrar, in collaboration with Bruno Gruppalli, Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico 2018 Ritos estructurales, 14th edition Performance Art and Visual Art Festival VERBO, curated by Rodrigo Campuzano and Samantha Moreira São Paulo, Brazil El culo del diablo and Un surco en la nada, U-TURN PROJECT ROOM, arteBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina Ritos estructurales, Isla de Mezcala, Jalisco, Mexico 2017 Un surco en la nada, Páramo, Tetetlán, Mexico City Serie materia habitable, 90210, Edificio Fermín Riestra, Guadalajara, Mexico Cantos Baldíos, A Poet*hical Wager group exhibition at MOCA, Cleveland, USA 2016 Un surco en la nada, Cuadro22, Switzerland Ritos Estructurales, Reconstrucción, a project by Abraham Cruzvillegas, Museo de Arte de Zapopan, Mexico La huida del tiempo, Obra Gris, Guadalajara, Mexico Gloria Suspendida, Gallery Weekend Mexico City, Páramo, Mexico City 2014 Monumento a la Inmaterialidad for Leviatán, Museo Raúl Anguiano, Guadalajara, Mexico Sinfonía Triste for La conspiración de las bestias, Diéresis, Guadalajara, Mexico 2013 Miércoles de ceniza for Sin necesidad de profecías, Diéresis, Guadalajara, Mexico  

CURATORIAL PROJECTS

2007 Trinchera (Homage to José Clemente Orozco), Museo Raúl Anguiano, Guadalajara, Mexico  

LECTURES

2013 Promotion and dissemination, experiences in the professional field, DAAD, Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico 2008 Multidisciplinary approaches and experiences from arts graduates, División de Artes y Humanidades, Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico 2006 Taller de Equilibrio Precario, Ex Convento del Carmen, Guadalajara, Mexico  

OTHER PROJECTS

2014 Gabinete Homo-Extraterrestre Collective, Member 2012 Co-founder, Cerro Quemado (Asociación Autónoma de Artistas y Agentes Culturales de Occidente) 2008 APT member (Artist Pension Trust) 2005 Co-founder, Clemente Jacqs  

GRANTS

2015-2017 Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (national system of art creators), The National Fund for Culture and Arts, Mexico 2013-2014 Programa de Estímulo a la Creación y Desarrollo Artístico (stimulus program for art creation and development), State Council for Culture and Arts, Mexico 2005-2006 Programa de Estímulo a la Creación y Desarrollo Artístico (stimulus program for art creation and development), The National Fund for Culture and Arts, Mexico 2002-2003 Programa de Estímulo a la Creación y Desarrollo Artístico (stimulus program for art creation and development), The National Fund for Culture and Arts, Mexico  

AWARDS

2017 ILLY award for Solo Project at PARC’ Peru   ART RES#IDENCIES 2017-2018 Artist Residency at Páramo, Tetetlán, Mexico City 2017 Artist residency at Casa WABI January – February, Tokyo, Japan  

COLLECTIONS

Diéresis Collection, Mexico Carrillo Gil Collection, Mexico Museo Tamayo Collection, Mexico Isabel y Agustín Coppel Collection, Mexico Charpenel Collection, Mexico GAIA Collection, Mexico  

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2019 El Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil abre espacio a Sumatorio, INBAL press, newsletter No. 340, March 11, 2019 2017 Reconstrucción: Un proyecto de Abraham Cruzvillegas. Exhibition catalogue, Museo de Arte de Zapopan: Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico, 2017. Rondan, Dioselinda. Premio illycafe anuncia la entrega de 5 mil dólares. Agencia Orbita, April 2017. Cuestionario Código: Emanuel Tovar. Revista Código: Mexico City, Mexico, October 2017. 2013 Sin necesidad de profecías. Exhibition catalogue, Diéresis: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, July – August 2013. Pp. 26-32, 60-61, 71-73, 87-90. 2011 Lara, Baudelio. En portada: Emanuel Tovar Andrade. Revista de Educación y Desarrollo, Issue 18, Universidad de Guadalajara: Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico, July – September, 2011. Cover page and Pp. 98. 2010 “Traveling Show” & “El Gabinete Blanco”. Exhibition catalogue, Colección Jumex: Ecatepec, Mexico, 2010. Pp. 152-155, 162-163. 2009 Gloria Desierta. Exhibition catalogue, Casa Del Lago: Mexico City, Mexico, 2009. Pp. 64-67. Firulais (Fragmentos de la historia reciente de Guadalajara). Exhibition catalogue, Editorial Pandora S.A de C. V.: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, March 2009. Pp. 34, 57, 49. Homenaje a Orozco. Instituto Cultural Cabañas: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, March 2009. Pp. 119. 2008 ASIMÉTRICA afinidades y discrepancias. Exhibition catalogue, Instituto Cultural Cabañas: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, April 2008. Pp. 168,175. 2004 Sólo los personajes cambian. Exhibition catalogue, MARCO: Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, 2004. Pp. 40, 44, 60-61.