Watch the recording from this evening of readings, conversation and reflection at Tate Modern:
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Fusco was awarded the Absolut Art Award for Art Writing in 2013. Dangerous Moves – a fascinating survey of contemporary Cuban life and culture through some of the country’s most daring and experimental artists - is the result.
Coco Fusco analyses the ways in which the regime has wielded influence over artists in recent times, showing how – in a context in which overt political speech is subject to censorship – the language of performance has emerged as the favoured means of social commentary. Focusing on a range of performative practices in visual art, music, poetry and political activism, Fusco examines the relationship between the abject body in performance and the greater body politic of a state officially defined as revolutionary yet seeking to limit and constrain dissent.
Dangerous Moves is a key addition to the canon of contemporary thought and art writing. Coco Fusco is joined by art consultant and curator Gabriela Salgado for an evening of readings, conversation and reflection, providing a rare opportunity to hear two of the art sectors most respected and knowledgeable speakers on one of the most dynamic and complex areas of art production in the world. Power, politics and contemporary art collide.
Biographies
Coco Fusco is an interdisciplinary artist and writer. She is a recipient of a 2014 Cintas Fellowship, a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship, a 2013 Absolut Art Writing Award, a 2013 Fulbright Fellowship, a 2012 US Artists Fellowship and a 2003 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts. Fusco's performances and videos have been presented in the 56th Venice Biennale, two Whitney Biennials (2008 and 1993), BAM’s Next Wave Festival, the Sydney Biennale, The Johannesburg Biennial, The Kwangju Biennale, The Shanghai Biennale, InSite O5, Mercosul, VideoBrasil and Performa05. Her works have also been shown at the Tate Liverpool, The Museum of Modern Art, The Walker Art Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona. Fusco’s show Coco Fusco: And the Sea Will Talk to You is on Display at Cecilia Brunson Projects, London from 3 September – 23 October 2015. She is represented by Alexander Gray Associates in New York.
Gabriela Salgado is an Argentine-born curator based in London, where she obtained an MA in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art. She has curated a large number of exhibitions and has lectured in over twenty countries. She specialized in Latin American art as Curator of the Collection of Latin American Art at Essex University, UECLAA (1999–2005) and was curator of Public Programmes at Tate Modern (2006–11). She curated La Otra Bienal in Bogotá, Colombia (2013) and the 2nd Biennale of Thessaloniki, Greece (2009). She works internationally as curator and art consultant and is currently directing a programme of exchanges between African and Latin American artists.
The Absolut Art Award for Art Writing and the Absolut Art Award were instituted in 2009 to mark 30 years of creative collaborations with artists. The biennial awards offer an artist and an art writer a unique opportunity to realise their dream projects, demonstrating Absolut’s continued commitment to collaborating on transformative artistic projects with the world’s most creative talent.