FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CIFO | CISNEROS FONTANALS ART FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES THE RECIPIENTS OF THE 2016 GRANTS & COMMISSIONS PROGRAM

Colombian performance artist María Evélia Marmolejo receives the Achievement Award

Miami, Florida – February 2016 - The Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO) is proud to announce the recipients of this year’s Grants & Commissions Program. As it is customary, the ten (10) recipients will be part of the annual exhibit opening on September 8, 2016.

For this 14th edition of the Grants & Commissions Program, the awarded artists represent five (5) different countries, divided in three different categories; Emerging Artist: Elena Damiani (Peru), Óscar Farfán (Mexico), Fidel García (Cuba), Felipe Meres (Brazil), Sandra Nakamura (Peru) and Fabián Peña (Cuba). In this edition, Colombia is well represented through the Mid-Career awarded artists; Jorge Julian Aristizábal, Carlos Castro and the duo Leidy Chávez and Fernando Pareja. The Achievement Award also goes to Colombian-based performance artist, María Evélia Marmolejo.

The CIFO Grants & Commissions Program offers emerging, mid-career and established contemporary Latin American artists, the opportunity to develop and present new work to the local and international audience of Miami. Each year, artists are nominated by CIFO’s Honorary Advisory Committee, which is comprised of leading art professionals, curators and artists from Latin America, the United States, and Europe. After a rigorous review process, the winners are chosen by the Selection Committee and ratified by CIFO’s Board of Directors. The program has been known to springboard its recipients to the next level of their careers.

“CIFO is proud to have been part of the Latin American art scene since 2002.” explained Eugenio Valdes, Director and Chief Curator of CIFO. “The CIFO Grants & Commissions Program has been a platform of creation and reflection for over 120 artists and has dedicated over $1.5 million dollars in funds to this date.”- Valdes continued - “the program emphasizes the stimulation of experimental and multidisciplinary work. Simultaneously, the selective process samples emergent artistic production from Latin America, while also recognizing the work of established and mid-career artists.”

Colombian performance artist and this year’s Achievement Award recipient, María Evélia Marmolejo, is one of Latin America’s pioneer performance artist. Her most prolific period, from 1980 to 1985, came to end with her self-imposed exile. In 2013, Marmolejo returned to the art scene after 28 years. Her performances focus on her views on political oppression, environmental concerns, women’s role in society and the symbolic meanings of women’s physiological functions, such as bodily fluids, many which are used in her performances.

Marmolejo will be presenting Conciencia Dopada, a performance where the artist proposes her body, mind and emotions, as a collective body that reflects distortion, fragmented consciousness, and dissatisfaction, affected by the loss of identity and its very existence.

“As a female artist, the purpose of this piece is to create a dialogue between my female body and the socio-political, ecological, and psychological problems.” said Marmolejo. “I have always tried to spark conversation with my performances. I am amazed to see how despite all humanities’ advances, the world is still going through socio-economic, political, and gender-based violence,” continued Marmolejo. “I am honored to receive this award and I hope that through CIFO’s support, I can contribute to their mission of promoting Latin American art worldwide.”

Ella Fontanals-Cisneros established the non-profit Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO), in 2002. The foundation’s mission is to support and foster cultural understanding and educational dialog among Latin American artists and global audiences. CIFO is a platform for emerging, mid career and established Latin American artist through the Grants & Commissions Program, the CIFO Collection, the CIFO Art Space and other related art and cultural projects in the United States of America and internationally.

For more information about the award recipients, exhibition, and other programs, please visit cifo.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

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