David Lamelas (born 1946,
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
) is an Argentinian artist. A pioneer of
Conceptual art
Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...
, he was involved in Argentina's avant-garde scene in the 1960s. Well known for his sculptures and films, Lamelas lives and works between Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, and Europe.
Education and early career
Lamelas graduated from the Academia
Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1963. Early in his career he focused on sculpture and participated in exhibits in Buenos Aires. During the 1960s, he was one of the key members of the
Instituto Torcuatro di Tella, an organization that promoted avant-garde and conceptual art. The contemporary art movement in Argentina met opposition from the government starting in June 1966 when President
Arturo Umberto Illia
Arturo Umberto Illia (; 4 August 1900 – 18 January 1983) was an Argentine politician and physician, who was President of Argentina from 12 October 1963, to 28 June 1966. He was a member of the centrist Radical Civic Union.
Illia reached the ...
was deposed. Newly appointed President
Juan Carlos Onganía
Juan Carlos Onganía Carballo (; 17 March 1914 – 8 June 1995) was President of Argentina from 29 June 1966 to 8 June 1970. He rose to power as dictator after toppling the president Arturo Illia in a coup d'état self-named ''Revolución Argen ...
, a right-wing conservative, used the
Argentine Armed Forces to suppress political opposition coming from universities and the youth. The government also began policing outspoken artists. By his own account, David Lamelas had been arrested and jailed four times by 1968.
In 1967, Lamelas exhibited at the 9th São Paulo Biennial. His installation, ''Dos Espacios Modificados'' – Two Modified Spaces, won top prize. Later the same year, his installation ''Situacion de Tiempo'' – Time Situation was on display in Buenos Aires.
In 1968 he left Argentina to study sculpture at
Saint Martin's School of Art
Saint Martin's School of Art was an art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's became part of ...
in London.
Also in 1968, Lamelas was invited to represent Argentina in the 1968
Venice Biennial
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 ...
. His installation, ''The Office of Information about the Vietnam War at Three Levels: The Visual Image, Text and Audio,'' is representative of many of Lamelas' themes including media, communication, information, and critique of United States foreign policy.
Lamelas' interest in film began during his studies in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. Among his best-known films are "Film Script", "To Pour Milk Into a Glass", and "The Dictator".
His films contain themes of time, space, surveillance, and popular culture.
Awards
In 1992, Lamelas received the Diploma al Mérito at the
Konex Foundation Awards for Conceptual Art and in 2012, the same award for Video Art.
In 1993, he received a
Guggenheim Fellowship for Fine Arts and in 1998, the DAAD Stipendium from Germany.
Selected exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
A New Refutation of Time 1997, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art
David Lamelas, Extranjero, Foreigner, Étranger, Ausländer 2005. Museo Tamayo. Mexico City
David Lamelas 2006, Secession, Vienna
References
External links
*
*
Finding Aid for David Lamelas papers, 1964-1997 Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamelas, David
Argentine contemporary artists
Argentine expatriates in the United States
1946 births
People from Buenos Aires
Living people