The Backroom: A Conversation

On February 24, ICI and Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, met online for this conversation about The Backroom with the five curators who contributed to this latest iteration of the project: Andrea Valencia Arnada, Laura August, Jaime Ruíz Martínez, Humberto Moro, and José López Serra. In two bilingual panels available in Spanish and English, the curators will discuss their involvement in the project, the artists they selected, and how The Backroom has offered a model for engagement with art beyond the art object, a return to the importance of the artistic process, research and the archive.

The Backroom is an itinerant space that has evolved, morphed, and grown as an archive of artists' source materials and inspirations. This newest version takes place online and provides an opportunity to discover and navigate art beyond the artistic object or artifact, from the perspective that art is a continuous and relational exercise. The Backroom was co-founded in 2005 in Los Angeles by Magalí Arriola, Kate Fowle, and Renaud Proch, who will introduce the program.

Click here to access The Backroom.

This event is free and open to the public.

This event is co-presented with Museo Tamayo. Since its inauguration in 1981, the Tamayo Museum has presented the most significant modern and contemporary art in Mexico and abroad. With a dynamic program of temporary exhibitions, as well as a continuous commitment to activate and expand its collection, the museum offers a space for critical thinking where, through art, we can imagine new ways to respond to society’s challenges. The museum was designed by Teodoro González de León and Abraham Zabludovsky who drew their inspiration from pre-Hispanic architecture.

This program was supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.