Contact: Lauren Van Natten
T. 212 660 7102
lvannatten@elmuseo.org

EL MUSEO’S BIENAL: THE (S) FILES 007
With Invited Guest Country Ecuador

On View at El Museo del Barrio
July 25, 2007 – January 6, 2008
Press Preview: Tuesday, July 24, 4:00 – 6:00 PM

NEW YORK, NY – July 6, 2007 – El Museo del Barrio, New York’s premier Latino and Latin American cultural institution, will present its fifth edition of El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files from July 25, 2007 through January 6, 2008. El Museo’s Bienal celebrates the experimental, immediate pulse of contemporary art, and supports the work of emerging Latino / Latin American artists based in the New York metropolitan area. The exhibition has been curated by Elvis Fuentes, Associate Curator, El Museo del Barrio, and E. Carmen Ramos, Assistant Curator for Cultural Engagement, The Newark Museum, NJ. In addition, guest curator Rodolfo Kronfle Chambers (independent curator, Guayaquil , Ecuador ), has included in the exhibition a selection of works by five artists from Ecuador , this year’s invited guest country.

“The (S) Files” are literally “the selected files”, as many of the works on display have been chosen from the unsolicited submissions to El Museo’s Artists’ Archive over the past two years. This selection for the 5 thbienal is the most expansive to date, with 51 artists showcasing work in traditional mediums such as drawing, painting and photography, as well as more experimental projects incorporating light, sound, and interactive elements, mobile sculptures and site-specific installations.

“The vitality of our bienal is a testament to the artistic contributions Latinos are instilling within New York City ,” said Julián Zugazagoitia, Director of El Museo del Barrio. “The dynamism continues to increase as we celebrate the fifth edition of El Museo’s Bienal, reflecting the importance of New York , especially among Latino and Latin American artists, as a capital of culture and of the arts.”

Even among the diversity within the works presented in El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files 007, the curators recognize several recurrent themes that have emerged organically within the exhibition. Some of the artists reference the hyper-reality of contemporary culture of violence and war, often in relation to social perceptions of masculinity. Others explore the public dimension of art and examine issues of labor, immigration, language and identity, frequently documenting the artist’s experience or citing art historical traditions. Resounding another global concern, many of the artists approach the environment and the natural world through landscapes real or imaginary, most especially evident in the selection of work from the five artists from Ecuador .

A 131-page bilingual English-Spanish catalogue will be available upon the inauguration of the bienal on July 24. The exhibition will be accompanied by a range of free public programs including a three-part series of conversations between the curators and artists participating in the show and a panel discussion on November 28 with gallerists and Latino artists to offer insights into the art market. Interviews with the curators and individual artists as well as visits to the galleries during the installation process may be arranged through El Museo’s press office.

List of Participating Artists in El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files 007 :  

• Alejandro Almanza Pereda (1977; Mexico City, Mexico)
• Blanka Amezkua (1971; Mexico City, Mexico)
• Alessandro Balteo Yazbeck (1972; Caracas, Venezuela)
• Saidel Brito (1973; Matanzas, Cuba; lives in Ecuador)*
• Melissa A. Calderón (1974; New York, NY; Puerto Rican)
• Pablo Cardoso (1965; Cuenca, Ecuador; lives in Ecuador)*
• Liset Castillo (1974; Camagüey, Cuba)
• Vidal Centeno (1960; New York, Nuyorican)
• Cecile Chong (1964; Guayaquil, Ecuador)
• César Cornejo (1966; Lima, Peru)
• Pedro Cruz-Castro (1970; Caracas, Venezuela)
• Franklin Evans (1967; Reno, NV; Mexican)
• exit static (latino & gringo collective)
• Fernando Falconí (1980; Guayaquil, Ecuador; lives in Ecuador)*
• Andrés García-Peña (1961; Milan, Italy; Colombian)
• Florencio Gelabert (1961; Havana, Cuba)
• Eduardo Gil (1973; Caracas, Venezuela)
• Tamara Kostianovsky (1974; Jerusalem, Israel; raised in Argentina)
• Jessica Lagunas (1971; Managua, Nicaragua; raised in Guatemala)
• Cristóbal Lehyt (1973; Santiago, Chile)
• Shaun El C. Leonardo (1979; Queens, NY; Dominican / Guatemalan )
• José Lerma (1971; Seville, Spain; raised in Puerto Rico)
• Adriana López Sanfeliu (1976; Barcelona, Spain)
• Luis Mallo (1962; Havana, Cuba)
• Cecilia Mandrile (1969; Cordoba, Argentina)
• Norma Márquez Orozco (1966; Chicago, IL; Guadalajara, Mexico)
• Justin Mata (1979; Woodland, CA; Mexican American Chicano)
• Iván Monforte (1973; Merida, Yucatan, Mexico)
• Alex Morel (1973; New York , NY ; Dominican)
• Lisette Morel (1974; New York , NY ; Dominican)
• Andrea Nacach (1975; Buenos Aires, Argentina)
• Oscar Oiwa (1965; Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil )
• Renzo Ortega (1974; Lima, Peru)
• Sebastián Patané Masuelli (1978; San Juan, Argentina)
• Javier Piñón (1970; Miami, FL; Cuban)
• Maria Teresa Ponce (1974; Quito, Ecuador; lives in Ecuador)*
• Dulce Pinzón (1974; Mexico City, Mexico)
• Manuela Ribadeneira ( 1966; Quito, Ecuador; lives in England)*
• Jesús Rivera (1956; Ciego de Avila, Cuba)
• Carlos Rodríguez Cárdenas (1962; Cabaiguan, Cuba)
• José Ruiz (1975; Lima, Peru)
• Reinaldo Sanguino (1973; Caracas, Venezuela)
• Analia Segal (Rosario, Argentina)
• Courtney Smith (1966; Paris , France ; raised in Brazil )
• Germán Tagle (1976; Santiago, Chile)
• Sandra Valenzuela (1980; Mexico City, Mexico)
• Mary A. Valverde (1975, Queens, NY; Guayaquil, Ecuadoran)
• William Villalongo (1975; Hollywood , FL ; Puerto Rican)
• Karin Waisman (1960; Buenos Aires, Argentina)
• Katarina Wong (1966; York , PA ; Cuban-Chinese)
• Augusto Zanela (1967; Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina)

* Indicates artists from El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files 007 Guest Country, Ecuador

All other artists are currently living and working in the New York metropolitan area.

In addition to the exhibition of the work of these 51 artists at El Museo del Barrio, Instituto Cervantes New York will host an extension of El Museo’s Bienal in a selection of work by seven of the artists from September 13 through January 6, 2008 . This off-site project explores the fragility and fluidity of language, ever appropriately held at this organization whose commitment is rooted in bridging Spanish-speaking audiences worldwide. Instituto Cervantes at Amster Yard is located at 211-215 East 49 th Street in Manhattan and has more information available on their website, http://nuevayork.cervantes.es.

Lead support for El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files 007 has been provided by Altria Group, Inc., the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Trust, Bloomberg LP, The Greenwall Foundation, Peter Norton Family Foundation, and by Angel Collado Schwarz/Fundación Voz del Centro. Free admission to El Museo’s Bienal and related programs has been made possible by MetLife Foundation. Additional support has been provided by Mary McCaffrey, latincollector, National Endowment for the Arts and El Museo’s Contemporary Art Circle. Exhibition programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts. The presentation at Instituto Cervantes has been made possible by BBVA.

About El Museo del Barrio

El Museo del Barrio is New York ’s premier Latino cultural institution, representing the diversity of art and culture in the Caribbean and Latin America .  As one of the leading Latino and Latin American museums in the nation, El Museo continues to have a significant impact on the cultural life of New York City and is a major stop on Manhattan’s Museum Mile as well as a cornerstone of el barrio, the Spanish-speaking neighborhood that extends from 96 th Street to the Harlem River and from Fifth Avenue to the East River on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. El Museo was founded in 1969 by artist and educator Raphael Montañez Ortiz in response to the interest of Puerto Rican parents, educators, artists and activists in East Harlem who were concerned that their cultural experience was not being represented by New York ’s major museums. In 1994, corresponding to substantial local and national demographic changes, El Museo broadened its mission to present and preserve the art and culture of Puerto Ricans and all Latin American and Latino communities throughout the United States.

El Museo’s varied permanent collection of over 6,500 objects from the Caribbean and Latin America includes pre-Columbian Taíno artifacts, traditional arts, twentieth-century prints, drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations, as well as photography, documentary films and video. Through the sustained excellence of its collections, exhibitions, publications and bilingual public programming, El Museo reaches out to diverse audiences and serves as a bridge and catalyst between Latinos, their extraordinary cultural heritage, and the rich artistic offerings of New York City .

l Museo del Barrio is located at 1230 Fifth Avenue between 104th and 105th Streets and may be reached by subway: #6 to 103rd Street station at Lexington Avenue; #2, #3 to Central Park North/110 th Street station or by bus: M1, M3, M4 on Madison and Fifth Avenues to 104th Street; local crosstown service between Yorkville or East Harlem and the Upper West Side in Manhattan M96 and M106 or M2. Museum hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 11AM to 5PM . Closed on Monday and Tuesday. Admission to the Museum throughout the run of El Museo’s Bienal will be offered free thanks to support from MetLife Foundation. To learn more about El Museo, please visit our website at www.elmuseo.org or call 212-831-7272.