Guillermo García

Guillermo Garcia Cruz was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, and resides in Dubai. His artistic formation included attending the Fundación de Arte Contemporáneo, Montevideo, Uruguay; Advanced Painting at the Washington Studio School and Drawing and Painting in Contemporary Art at Corcoran College of Art, Washington, DC.; and the National School of Fine Arts in Montevideo, Uruguay. In addition, he is a professor of Visual Art at the Instituto de Profesores Artigas in Montevideo, Uruguay.

His work can be found in many collections worldwide, among those Cisneros Fontanals Foundation (CIFO), Northwestern University Collection, Chicago, USA; Luis Bassat Collection, Barcelona, Spain; Jorge M. Pérez Collection, Miami, Florida, USA; Alberto Rebaza Collection, Lima, Perú; and DiGood Collection, Madrid, Spain. His works have been featured in several publications, including a feature by ARTnews during Sao Paulo’s SP-Arte 2023, among the best pieces in the fair.

García Cruz’s work uses a novel approach to replicating how images are perceived. His work looks like it was a computer error or glitch in its pixeled look. He also uses primary software colors in some of his paintings, reinforcing that idea. He says that his “current body of work seeks to question what happens in a variety of fields during this moment of change, when we all feel a little bit disoriented, anxious, or curious about what is about to occur.”

During his residency, García Cruz will develop a project in which he will create a series of works from these ideas.

STATEMENTS

UNTITLED SPACES

At the beginning, Untitled Spaces Project departs of visual experiments that come from real and fictitious structures of exhibition spaces, galleries and museums. These works seek to investigate in different ways the interrelation between the artistic object, represented as an organic pictorial presence, and the artistic institution that contains it, expressed visually as its architectural structure. The contextual space becomes the main theme of this work, looking to question the of validation problem in the current system of contemporary art.

This process begins inside the room through painting and then extends into space, resemantizing construction materials to talk about the wall that becomes the artwork. But then it takes a broader dimension when leaving the exhibition space. Now the work determines new unconventional spaces that contain it, where the piece is taken to the other side of its initial role, to transform the new alternative placement in part of this interaction and to come back to be exhibited as a photograph of this action.

GLITCHED SPACES

The current artwork of Guillermo García Cruz introduces the concept of Glitch to his institutional investigation. Glitch is a term that comes from computer science and refers to a temporary error that is corrected in some moments. In contrast to the bugs, the glitch doesn’t destroy the system, instead, it is temporarily twisted. This temporary twist is assimilated to the global crisis we are experiencing in different ways, an event comparable to the changes of paradigm created by Berlin’s Wall Fall, or the World Wars, being the first time that such a big globalized event hits the millennial generation. 

This “failure” affects all aspects of this new way of acting and behaving, and obviously the field of art does not escape this. That is why it is important to ask certain questions about the weight and influence of the institution or structure as a container and validator of what happens in this field, in such a particular context. This investigation has many layers, but in the first place this displacement is metalinguistic, referring to a global disruption that is related to the functioning of the art institution. 

The virtual fairs, the 3D tours, the long distance exhibitions, the NFTs, have come to stay?, Or are they part of this glitch that will come back when the “error is corrected in the system”? Actually, we have no idea of how this will affect the way we understand art, to the spaces or to the walls that traditionally validate what is art and what is not, but definitely we know we have been living in the middle of an earthquake. 

Extended Statement and investigation interests

My current body of work seeks to question what happens in a variety of fields during this moment of change, when we all feel a little bit disoriented, anxious or curious about what is about to occur. I have been working for several years specifically about the importance of art institutions versus personal expression. So since last year it was impossible to avoid what was happening everywhere outside the studio, even at a personal level. In 2020 I was preparing my most important exhibition at Lima, and suddenly strong restrictions were declared, so I had to cancel it and be rescued by a military airplane sended by the Uruguayan government, because every airport was closed from one day to another in Peru.

This particular experience and the rest of facts we all know made me start seeking a way to express this state of mind into my painting. And made me investigate more about the basis of geometric painting in Latin America. That’s why I started to introduce this ¨glitch¨concept, I wanted to find the most minimal way of talking about all these things, without being literal. 

All this investigation got stronger when I went deeper in my roots as an uruguayan artist and discovered the importance of the MADI movement in modern art. They discovered that painting should not necessarily be conditioned by the rectangular canvas, on the contrary,  the canvas shape should follow the structure of the painting. With these two facts I found the need to work harder and deeper investigating about how a minimal change can affect the whole structure, working from the pictorial and sculptural field.

Condensed CV

Born: 1988, Montevideo, URUGUAY.

Visual Artist

Director at MAG, Espacio de Arte, Montevideo Uruguay.

Professor at Universidad Catolica del Uruguay (Licenciatura en Artes Visuales)



Selected Group and Solo Exhibitions

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2021 – Glitched Space V, Solo Exhibition, Galería del Paseo, Punta del Este, Uruguay

2021 – Open Studio, Impakto Gallery, Lima, Peru

2021 – Barranguet Arts Residency, Solo Exhibition, Connecticut, USA

2021 – Swab Art Fair, Barcelona

2021 – Otra Art Fair, Buenos Aires, Argentina

2020 – Untitled Space V, Recoleto Creative, Solo Exhibition, Valencia

2020 – Alchemy, Solo Exhibition, Latchkey Gallery, NYC.
2020 – ROOM 45, Solo Exhibition, Programa Taide, Madrid.

2020 – Dúo, Galería Nueva, Madrid
2020 – Final Selection, Premio Paul Cezanne, Subte Municipal
2020 – Qué es Liminal, Group Exhibition, Espacio Ercilla 24, Madrid

2019 – JustMad Art Fair, Madrid, Solo Booth

2019 – JustLX Art Fair, Lisboa.

2019 – Art Lima art fair, Peru.

2019 – Evidencias, Solo Exhibition, Espacio de Arte Contemporaneo, Montevideo

2019 – Untitled Spaces III, Solo Exhibition, Galería Juan Risso, Madrid. 2019 – Art on Paper art fair, NY.

2018 – Pinta Miami Art Fair, Solo Booth, Platforms Curated Sections (Curador Roc Laseca).

2018 – Premio PAUL CEZANNE, Final Selection, Group Exhibition, EAC Museum, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2018 – Este Arte Art Fair 2018, Punta del Este, Uruguay.

2017 – Uruguay Contemporary Art, Group Exhibition, Tianjin Art Academy, China.

2017 – Este Arte Art Fair 2017, Punta del Este, Uruguay.

2016 – Temporada 22, Group Exhibition, EAC Museum, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2016 – SERES, Group Exhibition, Centro Cultural de Mexico, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2016 – Premio PAUL CEZANNE, Honorable Mention, Group Exhibition, EAC Museum, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2015 – RIZZO, FOGLINO, GARCIA CRUZ, Group Exhibition, Galeria Diana Saravia, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2015 – INVADIR SIN CONQUISTAR, Performance with Santi Senso, CCE, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2015 – RETRATO CONTEMPORANEO, Group Exhibition, Subte Museum, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2014 – ANDY NY Tribute Exhibition with Vicky Barranguet, New York, USA.

2014 – Inauguracion Marte Galería de Arte, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2014 – Galeria Diana Saravia, Embajada de Mexico, Group Exhibition, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2014 – TALKING BACK, Solo Exhibition, Sofitel Hotel Casino Carrasco, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2014 – Episodio 3, Group Exhibition, Pera de Goma, Montevideo Uruguay.

2014 – GARCIA CRUZ, Solo Exhibition, Interamerican Development Bank, Washington DC, USA.

2013 – CONVENTIONAL, Solo Exhibition, Embassy of Uruguay, Washington DC, USA.

2013 – Arte 58, Torre 58, Montevideo, Uruguay 2013 – Revolutum, A Hispanic Heritage Exhibition, Harlem School for the Arts, New York, USA.

2013 – Fernandez, Barranguet, Garcia Cruz, Dejavu Art and Fashion, New york, USA.

2013 – Arty Nights, BG MOCA Internacional, Portezuelo, Uruguay.

2012 – INMANENTE, Solo Exhibition, Diana Saravia Gallery, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2012 – Pink Spring 2012, World Trade Center, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2012 – Arte en Demolición II, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2012 – Marte Invita 2012, Marte Centro Cultural, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2011 – Arte en Demolición 2011, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2009 – Viñetas Sueltas 2009, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

2009 – Montevideo Comics 2009, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2006 – Cátedra de Alicia Goyena, Montevideo, Uruguay

2006 – Hotel San Rafael. Maldonado, Uruguay

2005 – XXIV Salón Leonístico de Artes Plásticas de la Juventud, Biblioteca Nacional, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2005 –Yo Diseño, Casablanca Arts Center. Montevideo, Uruguay

​Awards and recognitions

2021- Commission for the permanent Collection of Chicago Northwestern University

2021 – Carmen and Lluis Bassat award, at Swab Art Fair, Barcelona

2016 – Honorable Mention, Premio Paul Cezzane, Montevideo, Uruguay. 

2011 – Honorable mention ISUSA National Painting Contest, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2008 – 6th Prize, National Youth Painting Contest, Lions Club,Montevideo, Uruguay.

2008 – 2nd Prize , Montevideo Comics Drawing Contest, Montevideo, Uruguay.

2005 –  1st Prize, National Youth Drawing Contest, Lions Club,Montevideo, Uruguay.

2005 – 1st Prize, “Knock out a las drogas” Logo Contest, organized by Uruguayan Government.

2005 – 1st prize, Sprite Illustration Contest at Montevideo Comics 2005, Montevideo, Uruguay.

Cultural Managment and Teaching

Taller Garcia Cruz

Since 2013 creates TGC, Art School for young and adult students. Areas: Comics, Illustration, Drawing, Painting

MAG

Since 2013 is the Founder and Director of MAG, Multidisciplinary Visual Arts Space ( Prado, Uruguay).

UCU

Since 2015 works as Professor at Licenciatura de Artes Visuales (Universidad Católica del Uruguay)

Contact: Dcfamilyfoundation.com

Homework Gallery, Disrupting the rhythm of the art world

Starting from the need to reinvent art and make creativity a meeting point to generate dialogues and active debates, Homework Gallery gets ready to see the light during Miami Art Week. The platform consisting of an innovative and nomadic art gallery is led by Aurelio Aguiló and Mayra Mejia, who are determined to break down the walls and broaden the horizons of the international art scene through the democratization of talent. Their first action? v00001, an exhibition opening December 1 at The Knoxon, a mid-century roadside motel on a strip of Biscayne Boulevard. Do not miss it!

After almost 2 years defined by cancellations and postponements of events and presentations, art progressively returns to its natural state. Lots of events now overlap on the calendar, in which we come across fairs as important as Miami Art Week or Art Basel Miami Beach 2021. But if there is something that has been highlighted during this unprecedented phenomenon we have all experienced, it is that creativity (and the world as a whole) needs solutions never seen before. Formulas that surprise us, making us regain hope in the ability of human beings to continually renew ourselves and not remain anchored in the past.

Being fully aware of this premise, the nomadic art gallery Homework Gallery is now launched to challenge the guidelines that governed the creative scene until now. Their first exhibition, v00001, brings together various creatives inviting us to experience redolence in this collection of artists who address their relationship to memory and time through their use of various mediums. From the Colombian-born London-based visual artist Julian Chams to the interdisciplinary artist Laura Sofía Pérez, whose work materialised in the form of videos, films, sounds and installations, addresses important topics ranging from philosophy to ancestral knowledge or feminism.

Ten artists and three artisans are the protagonists of this first exhibition, in which we find different creative disciplines including sculpture, painting or installations. Endless ways to capture their own creative universes that coexist with each other, creating a dialogue between the different works. It is precisely that conversation between creators in a friendly and welcoming environment that Homework Gallery intends. Besides the two aforementioned artists, Elisa Bergel Melo, Patricia Encarnación, Laura Isabel Fernández, Carlos “Varkito” García, Carlos Llamas, Mayte Nicole, Gustavo Peña and Charlie Quezada will also present their work. You can visit the exhibition until January 15, 2022, at The Knoxon, located in the historic MiMo district.

Homework is a nomadic gallery known for its innovative approach to curation, utilizing experimental art space[s] to temporarily host thought-provoking exhibitions that challenge traditional views on art and the art world as a whole.

Imagined by Aurelio Aguiló and Mayra Mejia, homework provides a platform for a variety of artists to showcase their work and engage with a global audience. The exhibitions, carefully curated by the in-house team, stimulate intellectual discourse and critical analysis. At times they are interactive and multidisciplinary in nature, often featuring a combination of works from established and emerging artists.

homework’s mission is to open up the art world and create an inclusive, accessible platform for communities to be able to engage with contemporary art and culture from around the world. It’s cutting-edge approach to the traditional art world has given critical exposure to an array of talented artists during key dates of the art world calendar and enabled them to thrive in the current art climate. homework aims to engage viewers on multiple levels, inspiring creative thought, and encouraging dialogue and discourse wherever they go.