» Pia Camil

Pia Camil Mexico, 1980

Through my work I have shown a proclivity to failure or the decaying associated to the Mexican urban landscape, aspects of modernist culture and traces of art history. My practice has explored the urban ruin – including paintings and photographs of halted projects along Mexico’s highways (Highway Follies); abandoned billboards that become theatre-like backdrops therefore theatricalizing failed capitalist strategies (Espectaculares), or the problems and contradictions that arise when engaging with iconic art works (No A trío A or Cuadrado Negro).

Traducido del inglés

A través de mi obra he mostrado una proclividad al fracaso o a la decadencia asociada al paisaje urbano de México, aspectos de la cultura modernista y las huellas de la historia del arte. Mi práctica ha explorado la ruina urbana, incluyendo pinturas y fotografías de proyectos inconclusos a lo largo de las carreteras de México (Highway Follies), espectaculares abandonados que se convierten en telones de fondo teatrales, por tanto teatralizando estrategias capitalistas fracasadas (Espectaculares) o los problemas y contradicciones que surgen al abordar obras de arte icónicas (No A trío A or Cuadrado Negro).

Selected Biographical Information

Education / Training

2006-2008: Master of Fine Arts, The Slade School of Fine Art, London, United Kingdom.
1999-2003: Bachelor of Fine Arts, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, R.I., USA.

Solo Exhibitions

2014: “Entrecortinas: abre, jala, corre“, Galería OMR, Mexico City, Mexico.
2013: “Espectacular Telón“, Sultana Gallery, Paris, France.
2013: “Cuadrado Negro, part of the program Mutatis Mutandis in Artium“, Basque museum-center of contemporary art, Vitoria, Spain.
2010: “Lost In You (A Performance That Never Happened)”, Open studio performance, Mexico City, Mexico.
2009: “El Resplandor”, El 52 Gallery (project space and residence program ran by OMR Gallery), Mexico City, Mexico.

Group Exhibitions

2013: “Draft Urbanism”, Biennial of the Americas, Denver, Colorado, USA.
2013: “No A Trio A”, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain.
2013: “Horizontal”, La Central Gallery, Bogota, Colombia.
2012: “Popo de Paris“, Sultana Gallery, Paris, France.
2011: “El Grito“, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León (MUSAC), Leon, Spain.
2011: “Mañana”, Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala, Guatemala.
2010: “Sin techo está pelón, colección Jumex”, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.
2010: “El Resplandor”, Museo Experimental el Eco, Mexico City, Mexico.
2009: “There are false problems…”, Proyectos Monclova, Monterrey, Mexico.
2009: “Residencia de El Resplandor “, OMR Projects, Mexico City, Mexico.
2009: “[sic]”, OMR Gallery, Mexico city, Mexico.
2009: “This is not an invitation, it’s a presentation”, OMR projects, Mexico City, Mexico.
2008: “Lanzarote”, Keith Talent Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
2008: “Croyances Quotidiennes”, Palais Université Robert Schuman, Strasbourg, France.
2007: “Eventos Sociales”, Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City, Mexico.

Collections

La Colección Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico.
Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York City, USA.
Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco, USA.

: Pia Camil, “Espectacular Telón Toluca I-VI”, 2014, Hand dyed and stitched canvas, Variable dimensions. Site-specific project. Location: Galería OMR, Mexico City, Mexico. Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.

: Pia Camil, “Espectacular Telón Ecatepec II”, 2014, Hand dyed and stitched canvas, Variable dimensions. Site-specific project. Location: Galería OMR, Mexico City, Mexico. Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.

: Pia Camil, “Espectacular Telón Pachuca I, and Fragmento 8 I”, 2014, Hand dyed and stitched canvas, and low temperature ceramic with enamel, Variable dimensions. Site-specific project. Location: Galería OMR, Mexico City, Mexico. Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.

: Pia Camil, “Fragmento 8 I”, 2014, Low temperature ceramic with enamel, 82.5 x 42.5 x 16.9 cm. Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.

: Pia Camil, “Espectacular Telón”, 2013, Hand dyed and stitched canvas, Variable dimensions. Site-specific project. Location: Sultana, Paris, France. Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.

: Pia Camil, “Espectacular Telón”, 2013, Hand dyed and stitched canvas, Variable dimensions. Site-specific project. Location: Sultana, Paris, France. Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.

: Pia Camil, “Cuadrado Negro”, 2013, Metal beams and construction mesh, 800 x 800 x 800 cm. Site-specific project. Location: Basque museum-center of contemporary art, Vitoria, Spain. Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.

: Pia Camil, “Cuadrado Negro”, 2013, Metal beams and construction mesh, 800 x 800 x 800 cm. Site-specific project. Location: Basque museum-center of contemporary art, Vitoria, Spain. Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.

: Pia Camil, “No A Trio A”, 2013, The installation was made for La Casa Encendida, Madrid, with artist Guillermo Mora and the suit was designed in collaboration with Uriel Urban. , Variable dimensions. Site-specific project. Location: La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain. Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.

: Pia Camil, “Tlatelolco: Shot from a balcony”, 2011, still from Video Floor Projection, (00:06:09), Variable dimensions. Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.

: Pia Camil, “Maqueta para el monumento”, 2011, Engraved black marble on wooden base, 27 x 75 x 15 cm. Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.

: Pia Camil, “Highway Follies”, 2011, Resin and mineral powdered pigment, 150 x 200 cm. Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.

: Pia Camil, “Highway Follies (study I)”, 2011, Inkjet Print, 35 x 45 cm. Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.

: Pia Camil, “More or less Frank Stella”, 2009, Wooden planks painted and treated, floor mounted, 270 x 310 cm. Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.