Adrián Villar Rojas (born 1980 in
Rosario, Argentina
Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most po ...
) is an Argentinian sculptor known for his elaborate fantastical works which explore notions of the Anthropocene and the end of the world. In his dream like installations he uses aspects of drawing, sculpture, video and music to create immersive situations in which the spectator is confronted with ideas and images of their imminent extinction.
Villar Rojas studied Fine Arts at the University of Rosario, Argentina.
He works with a production team that travels to form a nomadic studio for each new project to whom he refers to as his "theater company". His works are predominantly destroyed at the end of each exhibition yet somehow they remain alive though remnants that are carried over into subsequent works.
Biography
![Adrián Villar Rojas cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Adri%C3%A1n_Villar_Rojas_cropped.jpg)
Adrián Villar Rojas' work has been exhibited at the
Louvre Museum
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
,
MoMA PS1
MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, the ...
,
Serpentine Sackler Gallery,
Museum Haus Konstruktiv, the
High Line
The High Line is a elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line's design is a collaboration between James Corner Field Opera ...
,
Moderna Museet
Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened a new branch in Malmö i ...
, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo,
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
(Roof Garden Commission),
Kunsthaus Bregenz
The Kunsthaus Bregenz (KUB) presents temporary exhibitions of international contemporary art in Bregenz, Vorarlberg (Austria).
History
Commissioned by the State of Vorarlberg and designed by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, the Kunsthaus B ...
, the
National Observatory of Athens
The National Observatory of Athens (NOA; el, Εθνικό Αστεροσκοπείο Αθηνών) is a research institute in Athens, Greece. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest research foundation in Greece, as it was the first scientific rese ...
and the
Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. He has also participated in the
New Museum
The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
History
The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New Sch ...
Triennial,
documenta 13 the 9th
Shanghai Biennale in 2012; the 12 and 14
Istanbul Biennale
The Istanbul Biennial is a contemporary art exhibition that has been held biennially in Istanbul, Turkey, since 1987. The Biennial has been organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) since its inception. Format
Istanbul Bien ...
in 2011 and 2015 and the 12th Biennale of Havana, Cuba, the 12th Sharjah Biennale in UAE in 2015 and the 6th Marrakesh Biennale in 2016.
In 2014 Villar Rojas represented
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
at the 54th edition of the
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
with ''The Murderer of Your Heritage,'' a large scale installation located in the Artigliere in
Arsenale
The Venetian Arsenal ( it, Arsenale di Venezia) is a complex of former shipyards and armories clustered together in the city of Venice in northern Italy. Owned by the state, the Arsenal was responsible for the bulk of the Venetian republic's ...
.
His project consisted of a group of oversized site-specific sculptures made of clay over a framework of cement, burlap and wood.
Villar Rojas' work ''The Most Beautiful of All Mothers'' was exhibited offshore in the
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via t ...
off the island of
Büyükada
Büyükada ( el, Πρίγκηπος or Πρίγκιπος, rendered ''Prinkipos'' or ''Prinkipo''), meaning "Big Island" in Turkish, is the largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul, with an area of about . It is offic ...
and in front of the Turkish home in exile of
Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
as part of the 2015
Istanbul Biennial
The Istanbul Biennial is a contemporary art exhibition that has been held biennially in Istanbul, Turkey, since 1987. The Biennial has been organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) since its inception. Format
Istanbul Bien ...
. His effort was the most talked about work on social media of any effort at the exhibition.
In 2017 he was commissioned by the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
for a sculptural installation for its ongoing series of exhibitions of contemporary works on the institution's roof. Therein Villar Rojas created ''The Theater of Disappearance'' which is a dinner party like mash up sculptural outlay reproducing digitally scanned objects from the museum's own collection. This was one of four exhibitions sharing the same title, all of which opened within 2017 at
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
,
New York, at
Kunsthaus Bregenz
The Kunsthaus Bregenz (KUB) presents temporary exhibitions of international contemporary art in Bregenz, Vorarlberg (Austria).
History
Commissioned by the State of Vorarlberg and designed by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, the Kunsthaus B ...
,
Vorarlberg, Austria, at the
National Observatory of Athens
The National Observatory of Athens (NOA; el, Εθνικό Αστεροσκοπείο Αθηνών) is a research institute in Athens, Greece. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest research foundation in Greece, as it was the first scientific rese ...
, commissioned and organized by NEON Organization, and the
Geffen Contemporary at MOCA,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
.
For the project in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, Villar Rojas, commissioned by NEON Organization, a non-profit whose space is the city itself, disrupted the grounds of the
National Observatory of Athens
The National Observatory of Athens (NOA; el, Εθνικό Αστεροσκοπείο Αθηνών) is a research institute in Athens, Greece. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest research foundation in Greece, as it was the first scientific rese ...
which sits atop the Hill of the Nymphs. The whole area underwent a transformation – architectural, horticultural and emotional. The exhibition was curated by Elina Kountouri, Director NEON.The artist selected 46,000 different
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...
s from 26 different species creating an intensely fertile area that gave way to a barren, polemical zone utilizing for the first time a neglected space of the Hill. Sculptural installations inside eleven variously sized vitrines expose the brutality of years of conquest and expansion and our quest for colonizing new territory on earth and beyond.
Awards
* Benesse Prize (2011) for his site-specific installation ''The Murdered of Your Heritage'' (2011)'','' Argentine Pavilion,
Arsenale
The Venetian Arsenal ( it, Arsenale di Venezia) is a complex of former shipyards and armories clustered together in the city of Venice in northern Italy. Owned by the state, the Arsenal was responsible for the bulk of the Venetian republic's ...
during the 54th International Art Exhibition of the
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
.
*
Zurich Art Prize
Zurich Art Prize is a Swiss art prize that has been awarded annually by the Museum Haus Konstruktiv together with the Zurich Insurance Group, since 2007.
The award includes a cash prize (roughly $100,000 USD), and a solo exhibition in a museum. ...
(2013) awarded by the
Museum Haus Konstruktiv and
Zurich Insurance Group Ltd.
* Sharjah Biennial Prize (2015) for ''Planetarium (2015)'', a large-scale site-specific intervention in the former ice factory of
Kalba
Kalba () is a city in the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is an exclave of Sharjah lying on the Gulf of Oman coast north of Oman. Khor Kalba (Kalba Creek), an important nature reserve and mangrove swamp, is located south ...
on the East Coast of
Sharjah
Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area.
Sharjah is the capital ...
during the 12th
Sharjah Biennial
The Sharjah Biennial is a large-scale contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in the city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The first Sharjah Biennial took place in 1993, and was organized by the Sharjah Department of Cul ...
.
* Prix Canson (2015) for his work on paper.
*
Konex Award
Konex Foundation Awards, or simply Konex Awards, are cultural awards from the Konex Foundation honouring Argentine cultural personalities.
History and purpose
Konex Awards are granted by the Konex Foundation, created in 1980 in Argentina. The pur ...
(2012 and 2022) for his work on sculptures and installations.
Solo exhibitions
* 2017
** ''The Theater of Disappearance.'' The Geffen Contemporary at
MOCA, Los Angeles, United States.
** ''The Theater of Disappearance''. NEON, Athens
National Observatory, Athens, Greece.
** ''From the series The Theater of Disappearance'',
Marian Goodman Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
** ''The Theater of Disappearance.''
Kunsthaus Bregenz
The Kunsthaus Bregenz (KUB) presents temporary exhibitions of international contemporary art in Bregenz, Vorarlberg (Austria).
History
Commissioned by the State of Vorarlberg and designed by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, the Kunsthaus B ...
, Bregenz, Austria.
** ''The Theater of Disappearance.''
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, Cantor Roof Garden Commission, New York, United States.
* 2015
** ''Fantasma''.
Moderna Museet
Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened a new branch in Malmö i ...
, Stockholm, Sweden.
** ''Two Suns.''
Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, United States.
** ''Rinascimento.''
Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino, Italy.
* 2014
** ''The Evolution of God''. High Line at the Rail Yards, New York, United States.
** ''Lo Que El Fuego Me Trajo: a Film by Adrian Villar Rojas.''
Marian Goodman Gallery, Paris, France.
** ''Los Teatros de Saturno''.
kurimanzutto, Mexico City, Mexico.
** ''The Real DMZ Project''. Artsonje Center and other locations, Seoul, South Korea
* 2013
** ''Adrián Villar Rojas: La inocencia de los animales''. Expo 1,
MoMA PS1
MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, the ...
, New York, United States.
** ''Adrián Villar Rojas: The work of the ocean.'' Foundation de 11 Lijnen, Oudenburg, Belgium.
** ''Today We Reboot the Planet.''
Serpentine (Sackler Gallery), London, United Kingdom.
** ''Films Before Revolution.'' Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich, Switzerland.
* 2012
** ''Return the world.''
dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany.
** ''Before my birth.'' Arts Brookfield with the
New Museum
The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
History
The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New Sch ...
Triennial “The Ungovernables”. World Financial Center Plaza, New York, United States.
* 2011
**''El asesino de tu herencia (The Murderer of Your Heritage).'' 54th
Biennale di Venezia
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
, Argentinian Pavilion, Venice, Italy.
** ''Poems for Earthlings.'' SAM ART Projects, Jardin des Tuileries, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France.
* 2010
** ''Un beso infinito (An Infinite Kiss).'' Casas Riegner Gallery, Bogotá, Colombia.
** ''Mi abuelo muerto (My Dead Grandfather).'' Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany.
* 2009
** ''El momento más hermoso de la guerra no sabe distinguir el amor de cualquier sentimiento (The Most Beautiful Moment of War Cannot Distinguish Love from Any Other Feeling)''. X Bienal de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador.
** ''Mi familia muerta (My Dead Family).'' II Bienal del Fin del Mundo, Ushuaia, Argentina.
* 2008
** ''Lo que el fuego me trajo''. Ruth Benzacar Art Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
* 2007
** ''15.000 años nuevos''. Belleza y Felicidad, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
** Diario íntimo 3D. Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
* 2006
** Estas son las probabilidades de que te pase algo. El Poste Galería,
Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
* 2005
** Un mar. Alianza Francesa de Buenos Aires & Ruth Benzacar Galería de Arte, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
* 2004
** ''Incendio.'' Ruth Benzacar Galería de Arte, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Bibliography
*
Hans Ulrich Obrist
Hans Ulrich Obrist (born 1968) is a Swiss art curator, critic, and historian of art. He is artistic director at the Serpentine Galleries, London. Obrist is the author of ''The Interview Project'', an extensive ongoing project of interviews. He is ...
,
Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev
Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (born December 2, 1957, in Ridgewood, New Jersey, US) is an Italian-American writer, art historian and exhibition maker. She is the recipient of the 2019 Audrey Irmas Award for Curatorial Excellence. Currently, she is ...
, Eungie Joo, ''Adrián Villar Rojas'',
Phaidon, 2020
References
External links
Adrián Villar Rojas in the collection of The Museum of Modern ArtAdrián Villar Rojas at the National Observatory of Athens commissioned and presented by NEON Organization for Culture and DevelopmentAdrián Villar Rojas at Geffen Contemporary, MOCA, Los Angeles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villar Rojas, Adrián
1980 births
Argentine sculptors
Argentine male artists
Male sculptors
Living people
Argentine contemporary artists