Mercedes Vicente
Mercedes Vicente is Curator of Contemporary Art at the Govett Brewster Gallery in New Plymouth.
This speaker will be of particular value for delegates interested in:
- enhancing synergies across creative disciplines: crossovers & collaborations
- fresh perspective on contemporary art influences in the Asia-Pacific context
- models of practice and case studies for secondary and tertiary level teachers
- structural linkages and educational outcomes: from classroom to contemporary world
- museum/gallery educators, curatorial practices and educational development.
Encountering new models of contemporary thinking as intellectual refresher was one of the highest priorities identified by secondary school teachers when asked what they wanted from this conference. Mercedes Vicente is an internationally experienced curator specialising in contemporary and speculative projects with a very high calibre of scholarship, research and innovation. She has developed a perspective on how contemporary ideas are transferred and investigated within and among artists from Pacific Rim countries. Her curatorial projects consistently test established histories and methodologies against emerging strategies, scoping and revealing the extent of potential response within given conversations. She understands the material realities of art and her speculation is always grounded in dynamic relationships between specific works. Because of this practical knowledge, she is able to effectively provide bridges for the endlessly vexing theory-praxis divide. This divide is lessened by Mercedes Vicente because practice is not placed as an illustrative subordinate to theoretical constructions, but as a key factor in the relationship with them.
Vicente’s innovative, speculative and intellectually serious curatorial practice can provide excellent models for some conceptual use values of individual works and of current theoretical frameworks. A question raised by some of her recent activity in Korea and in America — that is particularly relevant to the kinds of conversation we are hoping to generate — is how contemporary ideas are transferred, investigated and progressed among different groups of artists from Pacific Rim countries.
Mercedes Vicente: Professional information
Currently Curator of Contemporary Art at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Zealand, Mercedes Vicente was an independent curator and art critic living in New York City where held curatorial positions in several art institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art. Vicente earned masters’ degrees in Film and the Arts at New York University and in Curatorial Studies at Bard College and was Helena Rubinstein Curatorial Fellow at the Whitney Independent Study Program.
Since her arrival at the Govett-Brewster, Vicente has curated the follow exhibitions: From Mini-FM to hacktivists: A Guide to Art and Activism 2005; Viewfinder: Four Decades of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Collection 2006; Darcy Lange: Study of Artist at work 2006; Gabriel Kuri and Thanks in Advance 2006; David Hatcher Semantic Bliss 2007; Activating Korea: Tides of Collective Cction 2007 (in partnership with INSA Art Space in Seoul), Jayce Salloum: Everything and Nothing and Other Works from the Ongoing Project “Tntitled” 1999-2008, and Amar Kanwar 2008.
As an art critic, Vicente has contributed to many publications including Exit, Lapiz, Manifesta Journal and Broadsheet, and has written extensive essays on artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Andrea Fraser and Martha Rosler. Vicente was co-editor of the anthology of writings by Benjamin D. H. Buchloh titled Formalismo e historicidad, (Akal, Spain 2004). She is editor of and contributor to the forthcoming Darcy Lange monograph featuring an introduction by Benjamin D. H. Buchloh and essays by Guy Brett, Dan Graham, Lawrence McDonald, John Miller & Geraldene Peters and Allan Sekula.
Professional information
Currently Curator of Contemporary Art at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Zealand, Mercedes Vicente was an independent curator and art critic living in New York City where held curatorial positions in several art institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art. Vicente earned masters’ degrees in Film and the Arts at New York University and in Curatorial Studies at Bard College and was Helena Rubinstein Curatorial Fellow at the Whitney Independent Study Program.
Since her arrival at the Govett-Brewster, Vicente has curated the follow exhibitions: From Mini-FM to Hacktivists: A Guide to Art and Activism 2005; Viewfinder: Four Decades of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Collection 2006; Darcy Lange: Study of Artist at Work 2006; Gabriel Kuri and thanks in advance 2006; David Hatcher Semantic Bliss 2007; Activating Korea: Tides of Collective Action 2007 (in partnership with INSA Art Space in Seoul); Jayce Salloum: Everything and Nothing and Other Works from the Ongoing Project “Untitled” 1999-2008, and Amar Kanwar 2008.
As an art critic, Vicente has contributed to many publications including Exit, Lapiz, Manifesta Journal and Broadsheet, and has written extensive essays on artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Andrea Fraser and Martha Rosler. Vicente was co-editor of the anthology of writings by Benjamin H. D. Buchloh titled Formalismo e historicidad, (Akal, Spain 2004). She is editor of and contributor to the forthcoming monograph Darcy Lange Study of An Artist at Work featuring essays by Guy Brett, Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Dan Graham, Lawrence McDonald, John Miller & Geraldene Peters and Pedro G. Romero (Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Ikon, Birmingham, UK, 2008).