María Alós
¿Es esto Arte? (action reactivated posthumously)
The action was originally presented in Barcelona, Spain in 2005. Using one sheet of stickers, Nicolás invited people attending a panel part of Jameco Exchange in Jamaica, Queens, to use the individual stickers in the neighborhood. The original action for Barcelona, was described by Alós as follows:
¿Es esto Arte? (Is this art?) consists of printed sheets with three groups of stickers that read: “this is art, this is not art, and is this art?” The visitors receive a sheet at the entrance of the exhibition, and are encouraged to freely use these stickers; giving them the opportunity to classify anything they saw using their own understanding of art inside or outside of the exhibition (at home, work or in the city).
¿Es esto Arte? (Is this art?) is an invitation to reconsider the meaning of an art piece, as well as the use and value of the objects that surround us.
About the artist:
María Alós (1973-2011) was an interdisciplinary artist born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and based in México City. Alós created site-specific interventions and works that confront institutional structures and individual belief systems, both in society and within the art world. Her work encourages viewers to reconsider practices and actions that normally go unquestioned, such as the legitimacy of the art object, the art world's systems of validation, and the deferential gaze of the museum visitor. Her work drew from activities that reference social control and bureaucratic practices/transactions that any individual is subjected to on a daily basis.
Her work has been exhibited in the Ninth Havana Biennial, Madrid Abierto – ARCO 2005, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Everson Museum of Art, The Clocktower Gallery/ PS1 Contemporary Art Center, Exit Art, Artists Space, El Museo del Barrio, Metronom, Fundación Espais, Museo Reina Sofia, and MUCA Roma, among others.
Some of her exhibitions include Enacting the Text: Performing with Words at the Center for Book Arts in New York; Inventario at Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil in Mexico; The Lisbon Architecture Triennial, Portugal; Escultura Social at the MCA Chicago; Haptic! Contemporary Art Forum of the Kitchener Area (CAFKA 2007) in Canada; Viva Mexico! at the Zacheta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw; Child's Play at the San Diego Children’s Museum; Citizen Participant at the Darb 1718 Contemporary Art Center in Cairo; макетафиши at the University of Russia in Moscow; and Death be Kind at Office Gallery in Melbourne, Australia.
Photos: Various Sources
¿Es esto Arte? (action reactivated posthumously)
The action was originally presented in Barcelona, Spain in 2005. Using one sheet of stickers, Nicolás invited people attending a panel part of Jameco Exchange in Jamaica, Queens, to use the individual stickers in the neighborhood. The original action for Barcelona, was described by Alós as follows:
¿Es esto Arte? (Is this art?) consists of printed sheets with three groups of stickers that read: “this is art, this is not art, and is this art?” The visitors receive a sheet at the entrance of the exhibition, and are encouraged to freely use these stickers; giving them the opportunity to classify anything they saw using their own understanding of art inside or outside of the exhibition (at home, work or in the city).
¿Es esto Arte? (Is this art?) is an invitation to reconsider the meaning of an art piece, as well as the use and value of the objects that surround us.
About the artist:
María Alós (1973-2011) was an interdisciplinary artist born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and based in México City. Alós created site-specific interventions and works that confront institutional structures and individual belief systems, both in society and within the art world. Her work encourages viewers to reconsider practices and actions that normally go unquestioned, such as the legitimacy of the art object, the art world's systems of validation, and the deferential gaze of the museum visitor. Her work drew from activities that reference social control and bureaucratic practices/transactions that any individual is subjected to on a daily basis.
Her work has been exhibited in the Ninth Havana Biennial, Madrid Abierto – ARCO 2005, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Everson Museum of Art, The Clocktower Gallery/ PS1 Contemporary Art Center, Exit Art, Artists Space, El Museo del Barrio, Metronom, Fundación Espais, Museo Reina Sofia, and MUCA Roma, among others.
Some of her exhibitions include Enacting the Text: Performing with Words at the Center for Book Arts in New York; Inventario at Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil in Mexico; The Lisbon Architecture Triennial, Portugal; Escultura Social at the MCA Chicago; Haptic! Contemporary Art Forum of the Kitchener Area (CAFKA 2007) in Canada; Viva Mexico! at the Zacheta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw; Child's Play at the San Diego Children’s Museum; Citizen Participant at the Darb 1718 Contemporary Art Center in Cairo; макетафиши at the University of Russia in Moscow; and Death be Kind at Office Gallery in Melbourne, Australia.
Photos: Various Sources
