Tramas

The Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO) is proud to announce Gustavo Pérez Monzón: Tramas, a solo exhibition showcasing the work of Cuban artist Gustavo Pérez Monzón. The exhibition will open on June 8, 2018, at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Morelense' Juan Soriano' in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. Curated by Elsa Vega and René Francisco Rodríguez, "Tramas" features nearly 50 works created between 1979 and the late 1980s, highlighting the artist's prolific output during his final decade in Cuba. Organized by CIFO and drawn from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection, the exhibition was previously displayed at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana in conjunction with the 2015 Havana Biennial and later at the CIFO Art Space in Miami, Florida. "Gustavo Pérez Monzón: Tramas" will be on view until September 2, 2018.

This exhibition serves as an anthology, presenting a selection of the most significant works from Pérez Monzón's last decade in Cuba. His pieces, deeply rooted in the conceptualist tradition, reflect influences from Geometric Abstraction, Abstract Expressionism, and Spatialism. Among the standout works are his paper pieces from Serie A - Serie B (1981), Configurations (1982), and card games inspired by Tarot (1983, 1985, and 1986), alongside the important drawing series 15 625 cm³ of Relations (1981/2015). Each piece showcases the artist's commitment to synthesizing diverse references through a unique lens, with a focus on mathematics and numerology as foundational elements.

Gustavo Pérez Monzón (b. 1956) first gained recognition in Cuba in the late 1970s through participation in several group exhibitions, including the groundbreaking "Volume One" (1981), which marked a pivotal moment in Cuban art history. His inaugural solo show, "Full Moon," was held at the House of Culture in Jaruco in collaboration with Ricardo Brey in 1980, followed by the exhibition of Serie A - Serie B (1981) at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Cuba. His work was also featured in the Paris Biennial (1982).

Pérez Monzón is part of a generation that, in the early 1980s, introduced significant formal and conceptual innovations to the visual arts through experimental practices and the exploration of new themes. Their pursuit of innovation revitalized the Cuban art scene.

This exhibition reunites some of Pérez Monzón's most iconic installations, which have solidified his reputation as one of the leading artists of his generation. The site-specific works Vilos (1981/2015), Hilos (1984/2015), and Tramas (1989/2015) have been specially recreated for this occasion, engaging in dialogue with the exhibition space.

Pérez Monzón chose to step away from painting for over two decades, dedicating much of his professional life to art education. He has resided in Mexico since the early 1990s and was the founding director of the visual arts program at the Morelense Center for the Arts in Cuernavaca.

This exhibition, entirely composed of works from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection, was initially presented to great acclaim at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Cuba during the twelfth Havana Biennial (May-August 2015) and subsequently at the CIFO Art Space in Miami, Florida (December 2015-May 2016).