Spring 2016 Talks: Adrián Villar Rojas

Adrián Villar Rojas works with materials like clay, concrete, brick, and organic matter to create colossal installations, which suggest alternative worlds and apocalyptic or mythological realities. By combining common, contemporary objects with an aesthetic that is as futuristic as it is ancient or relic-like, Villar Rojas plays on our perceptions of time, history, and future possibilities. The artist often presents works in the public realm, offering endless opportunities to explore the themes presented in his work. His public installations have ranged from a life-size fiberglass bestiary installed on the Sea of Marmara (Istanbul Biennial, 2015), to the conversion of a park into a matrix of sculptural forms (dOCUMENTA(13), Kassel, 2012), to a 295-foot-long clay-concrete column exhibited in Paris’ Jardin des Tuileries (SAM Art Projects, Musée du Louvre, 2011)

Public Art Fund Talks at The New School are organized by the Public Art Fund in collaboration with the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School.

This program is made possible in part by Con Edison and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, as well as by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Villar Rojas (b. 1980, Rosario, Argentina) has exhibited widely, including solo exhibitions Adrián Villar Rojas – Fantasma, Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2015); Adrián Villar Rojas – Films Before Revolution, Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich (2013); Today We Reboot the Planet, Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London (2013); The Innocence of Animals, EXPO 1 at MoMA PS1, New York (2013); The Work of The Ocean, Foundation ‘De 11 Lijnen’, Oudenburg (2013); Before My Birth, Arts Brookfield, World Financial Center Plaza, New York (2012); and Poems for Earthlings, SAM Art Projects, Musée du Louvre, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris (2011). Recent group shows have included the Sharjah Biennial 12 (2015); Bienal de la Habana, Havana (2015); The Evolution of God, High Line at the Rail Yards, New York (2014); the 12th and 14th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul (2011 and 2015); the 5th Moscow Biennial (2013); Shanghai Biennale (2012); dOCUMENTA(13), Kassel and Kabul (2012); and the New Museum Triennial, New York (2012). He has also been the recipient of numerous awards including The Zurich Art Prize at the Museum Haus Konstruktiv (2013) and the 9th Benesse Prize in the 54th Venice Biennial (2011). Villar Rojas is represented by Marian Goodman Gallery and kurimanzutto.