Hunter College Art Galleries to Present OPEN WORK IN LATIN AMERICA, NEW YORK & BEYOND, 2/7-5/5

Hunter College Art Galleries presents Open Work in Latin America, New York & Beyond: Conceptualism Reconsidered, 1967-1978, curated by Harper Montgomery, the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Professor in Latin American Art. The opening reception will take place on Thursday, February 7th, 6-8pm in The Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery at Hunter College (West Building at the southwest corner of 68th Street and Lexington Avenue, NYC). The exhibition runs February 8 - May 5, 2013. For more information, visit www.latinamericanartathunter.org.

Artists: Diego Barboza, Artur Barrio, Luis Benedit, Mel Bochner, Donald Burgy, Luis Camnitzer, Sigfredo Chacón, Eduardo Costa, Jaime Davidovich, Iole de Freitas, Antonio Dias,
Juan Downey, Felipe Ehrenberg, Rafael Ferrer, Anna Bella Geiger, Rubens Gerchman,
Víctor Grippo, Leandro Katz, Joseph Kosuth, David Lamelas, Sol LeWitt, Lucy Lippard,
Cildo Meireles, Ana Mendieta, Marta Minujín, Hélio Oiticica, Clemente Padín, Claudio Perna, John Perreault, Liliana Porter, Alejandro Puente, Carlos Rojas, Ed Ruscha, Bernardo Salcedo, Lawrence Weiner, Horacio Zabala

Eco's concept of the Open Work-an artwork that could not be completed without the viewer's participation-was highly useful for Latin American conceptualists from the late 1960s through the late 1970s because it named the collaborative and performative emphasis of their artworks. Open Work in Latin America, New York & Beyond: Conceptualism Reconsidered, 1967-1978 displays the capacious nature of conceptualism by exhibiting 91 books, video, sound, prints, drawings, installations and photography by 36 artists working in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, New York, London, Los Angeles, Montevideo and Caracas. Although not a historical survey, the show presents a collective desire to use the body to destabilize systems of representation shared by artists from Latin America working in conceptual modes from 1967 to 1978.

Open Work in Latin America, New York and Beyond includes some ninety works that have been generously lent to Hunter College from the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Henrique Faria Fine Art, Document Art Gallery, and Alexander Gray Associates.

Hunter College is deeply grateful to the following donors, whose generous support has made this exhibition possible, Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros and The Bershad Exhibition Fund.

For more information about related events, including lectures by Dan Quiles, Gabriela Rangel, and performances and screenings organized by students at Hunter College, and for information about Hunter College's Department of Art and Art History and its initiatives supported by the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, go to www.latinamericanartathunter.org.

The Hunter College Art Galleries, under the auspices of the Department of Art and Art History, have been a vital aspect of the New York cultural landscape since their inception over a quarter- century ago. This exhibition, curated by Harper Montgomery, the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Professor in Latin American Art, builds on a long tradition of creative interchange between art history and studio art at Hunter.

Widely regarded as one of the leading art programs in the country, Hunter College's Department of Art serves both undergraduate and graduate populations, offering a full undergraduate major in Art, a BFA and an MFA in Studio Art, and an MA in Art History. In its 2012 rankings of "America's Best Graduate Schools," U.S. News & World Report ranked Hunter's Master of Fine Arts program 13th in the nation, and within this, the painting and drawing program 7th.