Time: March 29, starting at 17.30
Location: Piet Zwart Institute Master Fine Art, Karel Doormanhof 45, Rotterdam
Language: English
Mercedes Azpilicueta is a visual and performance artist from Buenos Aires living and working in Amsterdam. Her artistic practice gathers various characters from the past and
the present who address the vulnerable or collective body from a decolonial feminist perspective. In fluid, associative connections she counters rigid narratives of history in an
attempt to dismantle them and make room for the affective and dissident voices to emerge. As such, her work manifests in performative and sculptural installations being
inspired by speculative and fictional Latino literature, Neo-Baroque art history, contemporary popular culture and new materialism theory. Through collaborative and interdisciplinary practices, she combines “precarious”, craft-based techniques –historically associated with domestic obsolete knowledge– with industrialized productions.
Mercedes Azpilicueta studied in Buenos Aires at the Universidad de las Artes and the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. She has a MFA from the Dutch Art Institute––ArtEZ University of the Arts, Arnhem. In 2015-16 she was in residence at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam; and in 2017 she received the Pernod Ricard Fellowship. Since 2021 she has been Head of TXT (Textile) Department of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Mercedes Azpilicueta has been nominated for the prestigious Prix de Rome at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2021) and the Frieze Art Award (2018). She was awarded the VIII Marta García-Fajardo International Art Prize (2021) and the ARCO Prize for Young Artists (2019), among others. Her works have been shown internationally in solo exhibitions, including at Philara Collection, Dusseldorf (2022), Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz (2022), CAC Brétigny, Brétigny-sur-Orge (2021), Gasworks, London (2021), Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Bolzano (2020), Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2019), CentroCentro, Madrid (2019); and Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires (2018). In addition, her works have been included in international group exhibitions, triennials, biennials and festivals, including the BP.21 Bienal de Performance, Buenos Aires (2022), the Arcadia Triennial, Leeuwarden (2022), the Hannah Ryggen Trienniale, Trondheim (2022), the Times Art Center Berlin (2021), the MAXXI Museum, Rome (2021), the Busan Biennale (2020), the 11th Biennale d’Art Leandre Cristòfol, Lleida (2019), the Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de América del Sur, Córdoba (2019), REDCAT Gallery, Los Angeles (2018), Villa Vassilieff, Paris (2018), the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (2018), CA2M, Móstoles (2017), Onomatopee, Eindhoven (2016), TENT, Rotterdam (2015); and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2014).
Entrance is free and open to all, no reservations necessary. Accessibility:
The ground floor of the MFA building at Kareldoormanhoff 45 has step free access up a short ramp via the garden courtyard entrance. Gender neutral toilets are available but there are no wheelchair accessible toilets. Please get in touch if you have any questions about access.
image credit: Mercedes Azpilicueta, The Tasy Quote, 2022. Sammlung Philara, Dusseldorf. Image by Kai Werner Schmidt