April 30 – May 28, 2016
Opening Reception: April 30, 6-8
Steve Turner is pleased to present The Conversation, featuring paintings by Joaquín Boz and sculptures and two small paintings by Iva Gueorguieva. The exhibition seeks to reveal more about each artist through the conversation that silently takes place between their respective works. In addition, while Boz was creating his works in Los Angeles over the past weeks, he and Gueorguieva have been conversing in person and by email. The following excerpts, Boz’s in Spanish and Gueorguieva’s in English, are also revealing.
Iva:
I visited your studio the other day and stood before your paintings in silence. You scratch, rub, scrape, smear and scuff…the paint moves. It’s very loud. The traces of your fingers are apparent throughout the canvases. The forms resemble puffs of smoke, stains, tumbleweeds and erased thought bubbles. The forms float, settle, gently touch but remain suspended in their own space. There are some that stretch and occupy the thinner passages leading the eye through. Standing before a large diptych I think of dusk. It’s inky light envelops the forms. Everything is hushed and yet gathering and swelling with anticipation. I cannot help but think of this Neruda’s poem Walking Around.
Here is a list of artists that I love: Conrad Marca-Relli, Gordon Matta Clark, James Brooks, Hannelore Baron, Kurt Schwitters, Vladimir Tatlin and Eva Hesse.
Joaquin:
Eso es un poco lo que sucede, cada obra posee diferente energía, el proceso va cambiando con el correr de los días. Aparecen otros modos de producir gestos, a veces poseen mayor cantidad de materia, otras menos y se ven más lavadas.
¿Podemos hablar de cómo surgen tus composiciones? ¿Cómo se ensamblan? ¿Cómo se modifican con el paso del tiempo, durante el proceso de creación?
Iva:
Cutting for me is a way of drawing. I think we share the same impulse and need to concentrate the energy in our hands. The act of making is the thinking. My cutting and stitching with line and color is similar to the way you pull, scratch and smear the paint. It’s all very physical. The brush touches the canvas, but the cut penetrates the surface and destroys the illusion and so do your fingers.
I started constructing these objects because I always saw the surface of the paintings as a skin full of vitality and history rather than as a passive, empty space open and ready to absorb my mark making. I wanted to hold, pull, stretch, wrap and twist the surface while I simultaneously applied color and line. The intertwining of the materials with the surface reveals the tension between the two. That tension is generative within the painting process but also connects me to the stuff of real life, to the human body and to the body of the landscape surrounding it.
Both my paintings and sculptures evolve over time. Each layer continuously changes my perception of the whole. I have to shift, look, think and feel and then respond. Over time certain concepts and narratives becomes apparent. Stories, personal experiences, political events, and memories become apparent and in turn affect my formal decisions.
Does any of this resonate with you? Your paintings feel very urban to me? How important is the city for you and all the marks that people leave on its surface?
Joaquin:
Algunas veces la paleta presenta leves cambios, aparece otra serie de elementos más gráficos, el gesto real de las extremidades está más presente, en otra ocasiones hay arrastres violentos o las pinturas se encuentran más sucias, la cantidad de capas se va incrementando con el correr de los días y va apareciendo mayor información sobre el plano.
Imágenes provenientes en su obra:
Varios actos esperan a una tela caída en el suelo otro montón sobre una tabla ella ensambla composiciones barrocas es difícil saber de dónde provienen las imágenes pinturas del pasado deletreadas cómo un camaleón bajo el sol las líneas nos acompañan seguido por donde nos encontremos necesitas un poco de oxigeno y voltear hacia atrás para poder salir de la experiencia pero tienes que atravesar ese callejón es un remolino.
Iva:
Besides working in Los Angeles now, I understand that you created paintings here last year and that you created more in Mexico City earlier this year. What is the difference between working for a month or so in a foreign city and working in Buenos Aires? I also see that you paint on wood panel and paper. How do you choose surfaces to work on?
Joaquin:
No sé precisamente cuál es la diferencia, existen diferentes aspectos relacionados a la forma de producir, existe, cuando viajo un tiempo determinado, concreto, con fechas determinadas en el que casi y exclusivamente lo que hago es ir de casa al trabajo y del trabajo a casa, no porque las pinturas necesiten muchísimas horas de trabajo, sino porque es un proceso en constante cambio. Posiblemente exista mayor tiempo de concentración, estar sumergido dentro de algo mayor cantidad de horas, eso a su vez genera una densidad particular de energía.
El proceso se inicia embebiendo los paneles, con las manos cubriendo toda la superficie, esto permite que el pigmento deslice, da tiempo para pintar, (sin aceite el óleo se traba, se empasta, seca rápido, se convierte en una pintura matérica), generalmente es bastante confuso de dónde provienen las imágenes, es como si todo fuese a partir de errores que me van guiando, o como si me fuese adelantando, como si siguiese errores de la materia y el acto. Sí existen, elementos gráficos claros, ciertos iconos, arrastres con las manos, intencionales.
Los papeles que utilizo y ensamblo son poderosamente frágiles, eso me resulta muy atractivo en relación al modo que tengo que trabajar.
Imágenes en relación a sus esculturas:
Una línea de hierro o varias líneas de hierro un racimo de uvas triangulares las mismas telas de la Raya de Chardin está frente a vos solo es cuestión de acercarse recorrido histórico un trozo de salmón un limón y tres vasijas a veces el piso cruje las cosas se mueven se caen de nuestras manos perdemos el control el horizonte no sabe dónde vamos cuál es el sentido I know I don’t Know I see I don’t see esa persona se mueve con ganas tantas cosas surfeando el deletreo qué estamos viendo estamos mirando hay cosas inestables aquí trama.
¿Estoy en lo cierto al recordar que creó sus esculturas en una residencia en Florida?
¿Cómo las diferentes calidades de las partes empiezan a conformar estos ensambles? ¿Cómo suavemente esos planos de color, de texturas, se van apoyando sobre las construcciones de hierro, cómo se comienzan a estructurar la líneas principales del espacio real de la obra?
No puedo dejar de relacionar estas estructuras de hierro con todo lo que vemos a nuestro alrededor, con lo que aparece en la calle mientras caminamos, desechos en la ciudad, desechos de la ciudad o desechos de la humanidad, elementos estáticos que comienzan a transformarse cuando la artista empieza a colocar de manera cuidadosa eso que vemos que no sabemos muy bien qué es. Parece materia blanda secándose y esperando otro fin, la secuencia de trabajo paralelo en los planos bidimensionales nos hace preguntarnos qué es eso que vemos. De dónde proviene.
Aquí y de la misma forma en que las pinturas se van componiendo, notamos una energía irrefrenable en el modo de hacer. La yuxtaposición de planos y texturas las torna frágiles y en movimiento.
Iva:
Yes, the sculptures were made at Graphicstudio at the University of South Florida in Tampa. I started working there over six years ago making prints in close collaboration with the printers. I developed an intensely personal and creative relationship with the people there. It was I think inevitable that my printmaking and sculptural interest evolved into the current works. The sculptures are connected to the place in very direct way, since many of the material elements are gathered and recycled from debris in the area. Graphicstudio is more than a place to me. Working with others breaks down my habits of thinking and making. I am myself and not…I feel stronger and yet more vulnerable.
I start out by collecting materials and assembling the armature with the help of the sculpture assistant. I produce plates for each piece in order to generate collage material for each individual sculpture using a range of printmaking techniques. The plates are printed on linen and applied to the metal. The sculptures evolve in stages and seem to gather elements. The forms accumulate, attach, stick, drop and stretch around the armature in very organic ways. All along my decisions are infused with bits of conversion, stories, and gestures that come directly from the people I am working with. Their presence is very significant in the process, which is a very different experience from the solitude in my own studio.
Joaquín Boz (born 1987, Buenos Aires) studied at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires under the direction of Jorge Macchi. He has had solo exhibitions with Móvil, Buenos Aires (2014); Steve Turner, Los Angeles (2015) as well as at Zona Maco, Mexico City (2016). He was awarded the First Prize Salón Nacional de Rosario, Buenos Aires (2015) and his work was included My Buenos Aires, curated by Albertine de Galbert, at La Maison Rouge, Paris (2015).
Iva Gueorguieva (born 1974, Sofia, Bulgaria) received an MFA from the Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia (2000). Recent solo exhibitions include Ameringer/McEnery/Yohe, New York; ACME, Los Angeles; Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects; Bravin Lee Programs, New York; Stichting Outline, Amsterdam and Pomona Museum of Art, Claremont. Her work has also been included in group exhibitions at Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Contemporary Art Museum at University of South Florida, Tampa and the Pasadena Museum of Art. Her work is in many public and private collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Gueorguieva received the Orange County Contemporary Art Collectors Fellowship (2012); the California Community Foundation mid-career fellowship (2010) and the Pollock-Krasner Grant (2006).
Born 1987, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Lives and works in Buenos Aires
Education
2012
Workshop with Valentina Liernur
2011
Graduate Program, Di Tella University, Buenos Aires
2010
Art Professionalization Seminar, La Hermana Favorita, Buenos Aires
2009
Workshop with Claudia del Rio
2005
Art and Humanities Department, Universidad Nacional de Rosario
Solo & Two Person Exhibitions
2016
The Conversation: Joaquín Boz & Iva Gueorguieva, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Zsona Maco Sur (with Steve Turner), Mexico City (curated by João Mourão and Luis Silva)
2015
White Noise, Big Sur, Buenos Aires
Joaquín Boz and Ivan Comas, ArtBo, Bogotá (with Steve Turner)
Inscripción en la Tierra, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
2014
Insolada, cheLA (with Móvil), Buenos Aires
Group Exhibitions
2015
UNTITLED (with Steve Turner), Miami Beach
Extraction, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
My Buenos Aires, La Maison Rouge, Paris
CAPITAL, Castagnino+Macro, Santa Fe, Argentina
2013
Motion Blur, Otero, Buenos Aires
Oh, James, eres tan inteligente, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina
Bienal de Arte Joven, Konex, Buenos Aires
2012
Xanadú, Di Tella University, Buenos Aires
2010
Ahora es cuando, Fondo Nacional de las Artes, Buenos Aires
2009
La novela del dibujo, Centro Cultural Parque de Espana, Rosario, Buenos Aires
Arqueología de los afectos, Oficina 26, Rosario, Buenos Aires
Awards
2015
First Prize Salón LXVIII Nacional de Rosario, Buenos Aires
2013
Braque Prize, Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, Buenos Aires
First Prize Proyecto A.
Igualdad Cultural a las Artes Visuales Prize
2009
Drawing Acquisition Prize, Salón Nacional de Santa Fe, Museo Rosa Galisteo, Argentina
Bibliography
2015
“ARGENTINIAN JOAQUIN BOZ AT STEVE TURNER June 13 – July 11, 2015”, Latin American Art Journal, June 18
Born 1974, Sofia, Bulgaria
Lives and works in Los Angeles
Education
2001
Temple University, Philadelphia
2000
Tyler School of Art at Temple University, Philadelphia
1997
Goucher College, Baltimore
Residencies
2014
Graphicstudio and Institute for Research in Art, University of South Florida, Tampa
2012
Graphicstudio and Institute for Research in Art, University of South Florida, Tampa
2011
Graphicstudio and Institute for Research in Art, University of South Florida, Tampa
2007
Kaus Australis, Rotterdam
2005
Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture
Solo Exhibitions
2016
Ameringer |McEnery | Yohe, New York (upcoming)
New Work, Fredric Snitzer, Miami
2015
Silver Quintillion, ACME., Los Angeles
Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, New York
2014
Samson Projects, Boston
Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, New York
2013
Spill / Frame, ACME., Los Angeles
Battles, Galerie Stefan Röpke, Cologne
Iva Gueorguieva: Reinvigorating Prints, Luther W. Brady Art Gallery, Washington
2012
Recoiling Earth, Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Los Angeles
Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, New York
2011
A Stitch in Graft, Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, New York
Cut, Bravin Lee Programs, New York
Prefiguration, Heriard-Cimino Gallery, New Orleans
2010
Betekenen, Kunstcentrum Signe, Heerlen
Aumgn, Angles Gallery, Los Angeles
Lux Art Institute, Encinitas
2009
A Rough End to a Stony Sleep, Angles Gallery, Los Angeles
2008
Drawing & Sound Installation, Stichting OutLine, Amsterdam
School of the Adjusted Plan, Electric Works Gallery, San Francisco
Pan, Heriard-Cimino Gallery, New Orleans
2007
Project Series: 34 New Paintings, Pomona College Museum of Art, Los Angeles
Gyre Carling, Carl Berg Gallery, Los Angeles
2006
How to Make Love to a Gasmask, Carl Berg Projects, Amsterdam
New Paintings, Stefan Stux Gallery, New York
2005
Vectors in the Wounded Plane, Carl Berg Gallery, Los Angeles
2004
RUN, Heriard-Cimino Gallery, New Orleans
2003
Draka Gallery, Sofia
2002
Kolektiv Gallery, New Orleans
Johnson State University Art Gallery, Johnson
2001
Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia
2000
Temple University Gallery, Philadelphia
Group Exhibitions
2016
The Conversation: Joaquin Boz & Iva Gueorguieva, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Cult of Color, Circuit 12, Dallas
2015
Between the Eyes, Crosstown Arts, Memphis
Works of Paper II, ACME., Los Angeles
2014
Making Sense: Rochelle Feinstein, Deborah Grant, Iva Gueorguieva, Dona Nelson, USF Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa
20 Years of ACME., ACME., Los Angeles
Variations: Conversations in and Around Abstract Painting, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
2013
Itʼs New/ Itʼs Now: Recent Gifts of Prints and Drawings, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Frederic Snitzer Gallery, Miami
Art for Artʼs Sake, Frederick R. Weismann Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu
2012
Iva Gueorguieva and Rebecca Morales, BravinLee programs, New York
To Live and Paint in LA, curated by Max Presneill, The Torrance Art Museum, Torrance
2011
Vertical Hold (with Julie Weitz), Electric Works, San Francisco
Goldmine: Contemporary Works from the Collections of Sirje and Michael Gold, California State University, Long Beach University Art Museum, Long Beach
2010
Five From L.A., Galerie Lelong, New York
Desire: Six Los Angeles Artists, Pasadena Museum of Art, Pasadena
Art in Embassies Series, American Embassy, Sofia, Bulgaria
Forever Now, Peggy Phelps Gallery, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont
Challenging the Myth of the Painter, Outline Gallery, Amsterdam
2009
New Weather: Diana Al-Hadid, Robyn OʼNiel, and Iva Gueorguieva, USF Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa
2008
The Humorous and the Unruly, Angles Gallery, Los Angeles
Looky See, Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College, Los Angeles
I-35 Biennial, Dunn and Brown Contemporary, Dallas
2007
Struck, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago
The Fluid Field: Abstraction and Reference, Temple University Gallery, Philadelphia
No Coast, No Sea, Western Exhibitions, Chicago
When Worlds Collide, Carl Berg Gallery, Los Angeles
2006
Plex, The Brewery Project, Los Angeles
Drawings from L.A., Carl Berg Projects, Amsterdam
New York Styles, Angell Gallery, Toronto
2005
Off My Biscuit, Destroy Your District, Samson Projects, Boston
The Seismologist, Sara Nightingale, Southampton
Le Desert de Retz, Massimo Audiello Gallery, New York
From the Fruit to the Root, Alona Kagan Gallery, New York
More than Dirty South, Ambrosino Gallery, Miami
Motion/Stasis, Carroll Gallery (Tulane University), New Orleans
2003
Sentimental Favorites: Abstract Painting, Triple Candie, New York
Louisiana Biennial, Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans
2002
Faculty Show, LSU Union Art Gallery, Baton Rouge
2001
Just Ripe, Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia
Not Yet Housebroken, Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia
1999
MFA Student Exhibition, Tyler School of Art Gallery, Philadelphia
Awards
2012
Orange County Contemporary Collectors Fellowship Award
2012
Mid-career fellowship award, California Community Foundation
2007
Artist Grant, Pollock-Krasner Foundation
2005
Artist Residency Scholarship, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
2004
Artist Mini Grant, Louisiana Council on the Arts
Individual Creative Artist Special Opportunity Stipend, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
2000
University Fellowship, full tuition and monthly stipend, Temple University
1999
Rome Fellowship, full-tuition grant to attend an art history seminar in Rome Italy, Summer
1997
Trustee’s Scholarship, full-tuition, room and board for four years, Goucher College
Bibliography
2015
Dambrot, Shana Nys. “Artist Profile: Iva Gueorguieva,” Art Ltd., May/June
Ollman, Leah. “Iva Gueorguieva’s Paintings Exude Simultaneity and Sensuality at ACME,” Los Angeles Times, September
2014
McQuaid, Cate. Dense, “Elastic Narratives of interruption”, The Boston Globe, May
Campanaro, Pam. “Chaos Controlled: A Constructivist’s Memoir,” Art New England, June
Fellah, Nadiah. “Iva Gueorguieva’s Surface-Effect,” New American Paintings, February
Williams, Sarah Bay. “Iva Gueorguieva’s Projector Compressor,” Artslant, February
Gueorguieva, Iva. Interview by Arthur Peña. ArtHaps.com, February
2013
Hoelscher, Jason “Pattern and Deregulation: Beauty and Non-Order in Contemporary Painting.” ArtPulse Magazine, #17 Volume 5
Knight, Christopher “Iva Gueorguieva is Showing Chaos” Los Angeles Times, September
Friedman, Julia. “Artforum Critics’ Pick: Iva Gueorguieva.” Artforum.com, September
Black, Ezra Jean. “Iva Gueorguieva.” Artillery Magazine, November
Spaulding, Trevor. “Seen in LA: Iva Gueorguieva: Spill/Fame, ACME.” Abstractcritical.com, October
Jenkins, Mark. “Iva Gueorguieva: Review.” The Washington Post, April 26
2012
Ollman, Leah. “Energy Zings to and fro.” Los Angeles Times, Friday, July 20
2011
McCarthy, Gerard. “Iva Gueorguieva: Review.” Art in America, October
Shuster, Robert. “Best in Show, Iva Gueorguieva “A Stitch in Graft” and “Cut.” Village Voice, May 4 Bookhardt, Eric. “Paintings by Iva Gueorguieva.” The Gambit Weekly, October 4
2010
Garza, Evan J. “Spotlight: Iva Gueorguieva.” New American Painting #91, December
Pagel, David. “Broken Lines of Loss and Yearning.” LA Times, Friday April 30
Buscemi, Lauren. “Iva Gueorguieva at LUX Art Institute.” Art Ltd Magazine, March
Pincus, Robert L. “Iva Gueorguieva: Color, Complexity Make a Big Splash.” San Diego Union Tribune, February
2009
Ollman, Leah. “In the Studio: Unrest on Canvas.” Los Angeles Times, Sunday December 27
Frank, Peter. “Iva Gueorguieva: A Rough End to a Stony Sleep.” THE: LA Monthly Magazine for the Arts, May
2008
Der Borg, Lucette. “Een Kwast Als Een Tovenaarsbezem.” NRC Handelsblad, November 7
Scortino-Rinehart, Natalie. “Review of show at Heriard-Cimino Gallery, New Orleans.” Artforum.com/critics ‘picks May
Bookhardt, Eric. “Primordial Colors.” Gambit Weekly, May 20
New American Paintings #73, “Juror’s Pick” Alma Ruiz MOCA Los Angeles curator
Maine, Steven. “Review: Iva Gueorguieva at Carl Berg Gallery.” Art in America
2007
Myers, Holly. “Menace Lurks Amid the Colorful Chaos.” Los Angeles Times, March 30
2005
Harrison, Helen A. “Landscapes: Fantastic, Elemental or Formal.” The New York Times, November 13
2004
Calas, Terrington. “Technique and Meaning.” The New Orleans Art Review, November
Bookhardt, Eric D. “Born to Run.” The Gambit Weekly, August 17
MacCash, Doug. “Energetic Abstraction.” Times Picayune (Lagniappe), August 13
2003
Bookhardt, Eric. “Review: Louisiana Biennial.” Art Papers Magazine, Nov-Dec
MacCash, Doug. “Competitive Edge.” Times Picayune (Lagniappe), Friday August 8
