Artpace reveals Spring 2023 International Artist-In-Residence Exhibitions

The latest cohort of Artpace's seasonal residency will debut their exhibitions this week.

The trio of artists selected by curator Gabriela Rangel as the Spring International Artists-In-Residence have tackled a number of contemporary social issues in their artworks — from the Ukrainian War to Texas’ place in migration.

The opening reception is on Thursday, March 16, at 6 p.m., and the artists will give a talk at 6:30 p.m. The exhibitions will remain on view through May 7.

Yuliya Lanina (Austin, TX), created a body of work that outlines her relationship with the Ukrainian war. As a secular Jew of Ukrainian descent born and raised in Moscow, she frames her exhibition as a viewer of the war, from both near and far. “Mother/Land” features an an installation piece that makes use of animation to project a simulation of scrolling through social media on the far wall. Other aspects of the installation include a color scheme focused on three colors — red, white, and black — representing the trauma of war, handmade paper, and red poppy flowers with eyes — witnesses to destruction.

One of Cuba's leading conceptual artists, who is now based in Houston, Reynier Leyva Novo explores matter and energy in migration from South America through Texas in “The Sunset Road.” The center of the exhibition — Sauna Truck — is a commercial truck that from the outside appears to be completely normal. However, enter through the back and the interior becomes a sauna — and visitors to Artpace are invited to do just that. The juxtaposition between the two aspects of the piece — a sauna, commonly used for restoration, and the migratory connotations of an unmarked box truck — explores how energy can be transformed when in different environments.

In her exhibition "No Man's Land," Nohemi Pérez (Bogotá, Colombia) works in a similar vein to Leyva, focusing on migration as a social issue. Living and working in Bogotá as an artist, Pérez uses charcoal in her work as a reference to mining and the exploitation of both natural resources and the labor used to excavate it. The Texas landscapes of “No Man’s Land” are intrinsically connected to the notion of migration, since the state is an entry point for many displaced migrants. The mostly monochromatic body of work is broken up by splashes of color visible in small watercolor studies of travelers and some landscapes.

Free, 10 a.m.-5p.m., Monday-Friday, noon-5.p.m. Saturday-Sunday, March 16-May 7, Artpace, 445 N. Main Ave., (210) 212-4900, artpace.org.

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