MECARÕ. Amazonia In the Petitgas collection
MO.CO. presents The Petitgas Collection at Hôtel des Collections, 2020
Artists: Armando Andrade Tudela, Claudia Andujar, Brígida Baltar, Alberto Baraya, Milena Bonilla, Vivian Caccuri, Sol Calero, Patricia Camet, Tania Candiani, Carolina Caycedo, Chelpa Ferro, Lygia Clark, Donna Conlon, Alexandre da Cunha, José Damasceno, Elena Damiani, Tatiana Echeverri Fernandez, Sandra Gamarra, Ximena Garrido-Lecca, Gego, Anna Bella Geiger, Sonia Gomes, Beatriz Gonzáles, Claudia Jaguaribe, Lucia Laguna, Tonico Lemos Auad, Oswaldo Maciá, Teresa Margolles, Beatriz Milhazes, Paulo Nazareth, Maria Nepomuceno, Ernesto Neto, Rivane Neuenschwander, Lucia Nogueira, Hélio Oiticica, OPAVIVARÁ!, Nohemí Pérez, Solange Pessoa, Lucia Pizzani, Manuela Ribadeneira, Abel Rodríguez, Ivan Serpa, Valeska Soares, Clarissa Tossin, Erika Verzutti, Danh Vo, Luiz Zerbini
Co-curators: Vincent Honoré, Anna Kerekes, Jacqueline Kok
Mecarõ. Amazonia in the Petitgas Collection is the first institutional presentation of Catherine Petitgas’ collection, a significant figure in the recognition of contemporary Latin American art in Europe who has been collecting works for over twenty years. Her collection today consists of more than 900 works but the exhibition presented at the Hôtel des collections unites a selection of approximately 100 that focuses on artists from the Amazonian basin. The exhibition’s title, Mecarõ, means “the spirit of the forest” in the Krahô language. Using this Amazonian language seemed crucial to us because it is all the more urgent today to avoid substituting our Western perspective with the perilous realities that this territory faces. In part destroyed by the fires throughout the summer of 2019, the Amazon covers more than six million kilometer squared and extends across nine countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Surinam, Guiana and French Guiana).
Mecarõ reflects upon this now emblematic territory: what do the artists think of this organic and sensitive milieu, how do they live in it? An ecosystem is not limited by its geographical definition, it also takes into account the many communities that have shaped it throughout thousands of years. How can the members of this ecosystem, humans and non-humans, help us imagine a future society and divert the course of globalisation? How do we define an artistic environment from existing conditions and behaviour of the living beings that inhabit it? This exhibition intends to address these questions while allowing us to discover the rich contemporary creation in South America.
Catherine Petitgas is a London-based collector, patron and art historian who focuses on modern and contemporary art, mostly from Latin America. Following a ten-year career in Finance, she turned to collecting in 2000. She holds a Masters in the history of Modern Art from the Courtaud Institute in London. She was Executive Editor for three books on Latin American art: Contemporary Art Brazil (2012), Contemporary Art Mexico (2014) and Contemporary Art Colombia (2016), all published by Thames & Hudson and TransGlobe. She serves on the boards of several leading institutions. She chairs the Tate International Council and she has been a member of the Tate Latin American Acquisitions Committee since 2004. She sits on the Conseil d'Administration des Amis du Centre Pompidou and the Pompidou Latin Circle in Paris. She is a member of the Latin Circle and the Collectors Circle of the Guggenheim in New York. She is a member of the International Council of the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo in Brazil and of the Museo Tamayo in Mexico City. She also chairs two important smaller organisations: Gasworks Triangle Network, that offers exhibitions, artist studios and international residencies in London and oversees a network of artist-run spaces around the world; and Fluxus Art Projects, a Franco-British initiative to support exhibitions by emerging French artists in Britain and British artists in France.
The exhibition layout designed by the creative Montpellier based duo Mr. & Mr. With their thoughtfulness in the choice and the sensory aspects of the materials, the Montpellier-based studio Mr.&Mr. was selected to participate in the exhibition both on the selection of the furniture and on the visitors’ journey through the space. Through various natural and innovative materials, namely cork, they created a unique signature design.
Installation views: Marc Domage