Jaime Davidovich (1936-2016)
Abstraction in Action is saddened to announce the passing of Jaime Davidovich, who died on August 27 in New York.
My taped projects are about surfaces, context and space.
I first started working with adhesive tape in 1966. Initially I used the tape to hold my paintings to the wall, but starting in 1970 I eliminated the painting and concentrated on the tapes as my primary medium. I wanted to explore the possibilities of using spaces where the viewer does not expect art to be found. This concept brought me to intervene staircases, landing platforms and outdoor walls and objects. Each work was created for a unique space. When covering a surface, the tape creates an additive grid full of amorphous patterns caused by air bubbles. When developing a tape project, sometimes paper or a photograph was the support and framework for the piece, but many times the project was able to become monumental as it seamlessly adapted to the architecture of the space. Also in 1970, I began to incorporate videotape as part of these projects. The taped projects became “Art on tape and tapes as art”.
September 13, 2016 Jaime Davidovich https://abstractioninaction.com/artists/jaime-davidovich/My taped projects are about surfaces, context and space.
I first started working with adhesive tape in 1966. Initially I used the tape to hold my paintings to the wall, but starting in 1970 I eliminated the painting and concentrated on the tapes as my primary medium. I wanted to explore the possibilities of using spaces where the viewer does not expect art to be found. This concept brought me to intervene staircases, landing platforms and outdoor walls and objects. Each work was created for a unique space. When covering a surface, the tape creates an additive grid full of amorphous patterns caused by air bubbles. When developing a tape project, sometimes paper or a photograph was the support and framework for the piece, but many times the project was able to become monumental as it seamlessly adapted to the architecture of the space. Also in 1970, I began to incorporate videotape as part of these projects. The taped projects became “Art on tape and tapes as art”.
Traducido del inglés
Mis proyectos con cinta tratan sobre superficies, contexto y espacio.
Comencé trabajando con cinta adhesiva en 1966. Inicialmente utilicé cinta para sostener mis pinturas sobre la pared, pero a partir de 1970, eliminé las pinturas y me concentré en las cintas como mi medio principal. Quería explorar las posibilidades del uso de espacios en donde el espectador no espera encontrar arte. Este concepto me llevó a intervenir escaleras, plataformas de aterrizaje, paredes exteriores y objetos. Cada obra fue creada para un espacio único. Al cubrir una superficie, la cinta crea una retícula de aditivo llena de patrones amorfos causados por burbujas de aire. Durante el desarrollo de un proyecto con cinta, a veces el papel o la fotografía era el soporte y el marco de la pieza, sin embargo, muchas de las veces, el proyecto fue capaz de convertirse en monumental al momento de adaptarse perfectamente a la arquitectura del espacio. También, en 1970, comencé a incorporar cinta de video como parte de estos proyectos. Los proyectos grabados se convirtieron en “Arte en cinta y las cintas como arte”.
Selected Biographical Information
Education / Training
- 1963: School of Visual Arts, New York, USA.
- 1959-1961: , University of Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay.
- 1954-1958: , National College of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Prizes / Fellowships
- 1990: Visual Arts Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C., USA.
- 1984: Visual Arts Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C., USA.
- 1982: Creative Artists Public Service Program, New York State Council on the Arts, New York, USA.
- 1978: Visual Arts Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C., USA.
- 1975: Creative Artists Public Service Program, New York State Council on the Arts, New York, USA.
Solo Exhibitions
- 2015: “Jaime Davidovich: Adventures of the Avant-Garde“, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, USA.
- 2015: “Jaime Davidovich: Tapes Period. 1969-1975”, Henrique Faria, New York, New York, USA.
- 2013: “Museum of Television Culture“, Churner and Churner, New York, USA.
- 2010: “Biting the Hand that Feeds You”, ARTIUM, Vitoria Gasteiz, Spain.
- 2008: “Dr. Videovich”, Anthology Film Archives, New York, USA.
- 2004: “Jaime Davidovich Video Works 1970-2000”, The Phatory Gallery, New York, USA.
- 1991: “Forces/Farces”, Exit Art, New York, USA.
- 1989: “The Live! Show Retrospective”, The Museum of the Moving Image, New York, United States.
- 1978: “Jaime Davidovich: Art Turns on Television”, Coroborree, Iowa City, United States.
- 1976: “Baseboard”, The Kitchen, New York, USA.
- 1976: “Jame Davidovich Video VII”, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA.
Group Exhibitions
- 2010: “Changing Channels”, MUMOK, Vienna, Austria.
- 2009: “Compass in Hand”, Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States.
- 2009: “From the Archives: 40 Years, 40 Projects”, White Columns, New York, United States.
- 2008: “Arte no es Vida”, El Museo del Barrio, New York, United States.
- 2007: “Primera Generación. Arte e imagen en movimiento”, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain.
- 2000: “The End: An 18-Year History of Exit Art”, Exit Art, New York, United States.
- 1990: “Ideas and Images from Argentina”, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, USA.
- 1986: “Television’s Impact on Contemporary Art”, Queens Museum, New York, USA.
- 1977: “Art of the Seventies”, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain.
- 1972: “Arte de Sistemas”, Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- 1971: “Experiments in Art and Technology”, B.K. Smith Gallery, Painesville, USA.
Publications
- Thomas Riggs, St. James Guide to Hispanic Artists (New York: St. James Press).
- Marc H. Miller, Television’s Impact on Contemporary Art (New York: Queens Museum).
- Les Krantz, American Artists – An Illustrated Survey of Leading Contemporary Americans (Chicago: The Krantz Company Publishers, Inc.)
- Holland Cotter, “10 Galleries to Visit on the Upper East Side“, The New York Times, April 16, 2015, C33.
- Jacob Proctor, “Jaime Davidovich at Threewalls”, ArtForum, April 2015, 255.
- Joseph Jacobs, “When Video Was Young”, Art in America, 2007, .
- Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, “Site Matters”, Distributed Art Publishers, 2004, .
- Herman Rapaport, “Jaime Davidovich – A Video Promenade – Jorge Luis Borges Interview with Davidovich While Walking on University Place from 12th to 11th Streets, New York, 1982”, Points of Contact, Fall 1995, 16-21.
- Carolyn Kinder Karr, “Jaime Davidovich”, ArtForum, February 1974, 61-62.
Collections
- Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain.
- Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
- Clarisa and Edgar J. Bronfman, New York, USA.
- Private Collection, New York, USA.