Blanton Museum To Open

Cisneros Collection Feb. 20

‘This abstract art collection is a veritable encyclopedia of all Latin American art from the 1920s to today.’

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Judith Lauand (Brazil, b 1922), “Concreto 61 (Concrete 61),” 1957, synthetic paint on Eucatex panel, 235/8 by 235/8 inches. Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros.

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Jesús Rafael Soto (Venezuela, 1923–2005), “Doble transparencia (Double Transparency),” 1956, industrial paint on Plexiglas mounted on wood, 215/8 by 215/8 by 215/8 inches. Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros.

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Anatol Wladyslaw (Brazil, b 1930), “Abstrato (Abstract),” 1950, oil on canvas, 235/8 by 28¾ inches. Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros.

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LATIN AMERICAN ABSTRACT ART FROM THE DE CISNEROS COLLECTION AT BLANTON MUSEUM w/3 cuts

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AUSTIN, TEXAS — “The Geometry of Hope: Latin American Abstract Art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection,” a major exhibition comprising some 130 works of art from the acclaimed Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC), opens in February 20 at the Blanton Museum of Art at The University of Texas at Austin.

The exhibition, along with its catalog and related public programs, is the product of the Cisneros graduate research seminar at The University of Texas at Austin, a multiyear scholarly collaboration between the New York- and Caracas-based CPPC and the Blanton.

“The Geometry of Hope” will be among the first special exhibitions presented in the museum’s new building, which opened to the public in April 2006. It will be on view at the Blanton through April 22.

Says project director Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, curator of Latin American art at the Blanton, 2007, a variation of the exhibition to be presented in New York City in collaboration with New York University’s Grey Art Gallery, which will also hold a symposium, “The Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros is a veritable encyclopedia of all the major artists and movements in Latin America from the 1920s to the present day, and there is no collection like it in the world in public or private hands.”

Patricia Phelps de Cisneros adds, “The Cisneros Graduate Research Seminar benefits both seminar participants and the CPPC. Students are able to work with original works of art and to engage with important scholars, while CPPC curators and staff profit from the new light shed on those works, as well as from the in-depth exploration of various issues associated with modern Latin American art.”

Organized chronologically, “The Geometry of Hope” will focus on key cities in the development of abstraction in the Americas: Montevideo in the 1930s, Buenos Aires, 1940s, São Paulo, 1950s, Rio de Janeiro, 1950s–60s, Paris, 1960s, and Caracas 1960s–70s. In tracing the development of ideas from one socio-geographic context to another, the exhibition will challenge the view of Latin American art as a single phenomenon, revealing important differences and tensions among various artistic proposals articulated during the decades being examined.

The exhibition will include work by approximately 40 artists. Among them are Joaquín Torres-García from Montevideo; Gyula Kosice and Tomás Maldonado from Buenos Aires; Geraldo de Barros and Waldemar Cordeiro from São Paulo; Hélio Oiticica and Lygia Clark from Rio de Janeiro; and Jesús Rafael Soto and Carlos Cruz-Diez from Paris and Caracas.

“The Geometry of Hope” will be accompanied by an illustrated, 300-page, bilingual (English-Spanish) publication, including an introduction by Pérez-Barreiro, scholarly essays on each of the cities explored in the exhibition and extended essays presenting new research on 40 individual works of art. This focus on individual objects makes the book unusual among publications on geometric abstraction.

The Blanton Museum of Art is at 1 University Station, at 23rd and San Jacinto. For information, 512-471-7324 or www.blantonmuseum.org.

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Diane Villani Elected President of IFPDA’s Board of Directors

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NEW YORK CITY — The Board of Directors of the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) has elected Diane Villani as its next president for a three-year term that began in January. Villani succeeds Robert K. Newman of The Old Print Shop, who is stepping down after five years as president. Discussing her new role, Villani said, “This is an exciting time to head the organization; the IFPDA is in its 20th year, and I sense a more expansive notion of printmaking building as we move into the Twenty-First century.”

A native New Yorker and owner of Diane Villani Editions, Villani is a contemporary publisher and dealer of prints and editions. She has chaired the IFPDA’s Print Fair Committee, which sponsors the association’s annual Print Fair in New York City and was one of the organizing dealers for the new Ink Miami Art Fair that successfully debuted during last year’s Art Basel Miami Beach.

Villani began to concentrate professionally on contemporary art, and especially prints, when she joined the Martha Jackson Gallery in 1972. She has been a print publisher since 1980, when she founded Diane Villani Editions, a move that enabled her to work more closely with the artists and to commission new works as a publisher.

She has published numerous projects over the years with notable artists such as Mel Bochner, Sean Scully and Alison Saar. Recent projects include editions with Suzanne McClelland, Ida Applebroog, Tony Fitzpatrick, Paul Henry Ramirez, Julia Jacquette, and Nicola Tyson. She is the New York representative for Cirrus Editions (Los Angeles) and Landfall Press (New Mexico) and represents the estate of artist Fred Sandback.

Villani was accepted as a member by the IFPDA in 1990 soon after the organization had voted to admit print publishers. Villani remembers this period as a turning point for the organization and says, “It made sense to be more inclusive as a group, to have more clout to promote what you believe in.” She is also an active member of Art Table and co-founder of their downtown breakfast events.

Villani plans to build on the accomplishments of her predecessors in furthering the IFPDA’s mission to enhance the public’s awareness and understanding of fine prints through its support for exhibitions, catalogs and scholarly publications. Her priorities include the development of innovative programming and outreach to develop connoisseurship and increasing opportunities for the IFPDA’s 164 members to expose the public to prints and editions. She sums up what is likely to be the theme for her stewardship by stating, “It’s all about the art.”

For information, 212-674-6095 or www.printdealers.com.