Condemned To Be Modern

Curated by Clara Kim
September 10, 2017 – January 28, 2018

With a special performance by Crystal Sepúlveda as part of Clarissa Tossin’s newly commissioned project inspired by the Mayan Revival architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House.

Condemned To Be Modern, curated by Clara Kim, is an exploration of the lives of buildings and an interrogation of our built environment-the structures we inherit, the cities we live in. Taking its title from the preeminent Brazilian critic Mario Pedrosa’s infamous statement about Brasília, this exhibition brings together the works of twenty-one contemporary artists who have responded critically to the history of modernist architecture in Latin America. In works produced over the past two decades, these artists explore the effects, contradictions, and contested legacies of modernism in Brazil, Cuba, and Mexico as expressed through ambitious projects for government buildings, public housing, universities, and even new cities constructed during periods of radical political and social change. In examining these buildings and their histories from a contemporary perspective, the exhibition aims to deconstruct and demystify the formation of a modern (architectural) identity while provoking consideration of the fate of architecture and its changing representation over time.

The exhibition includes work by Eduardo Abaroa, Jonathas de Andrade, Leonor Antunes, Alexander Apóstol, Alexandre Arrechea, Ramiro Chaves, Felipe Dulzaides, Carlos Garaicoa, Terence Gower, Tamar Guimarães, Lucia Koch, Runo Lagomarsino, Renata Lucas, Lais Myrrha, Manuel Piña, Mauro Restiffe, Beto Shwafaty, Melanie Smith, Tercerunquinto, Clarissa Tossin, and Héctor Zamora.

Condemned To Be Modern and its associated programming are part of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a far-reaching and ambitious exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles.

Supported by grants from the Getty Foundation, Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA takes place from September 2017 through January 2018 at more than 70 cultural institutions across Southern California, from Los Angeles to Palm Springs, and from San Diego to Santa Barbara.
Pacific Standard Time is an initiative of the Getty. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America.

Major support for this exhibition and publication is provided through grants from the Getty Foundation.

Condemned To Be Modern is also supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, and the City of Los Angeles Department on Disability.

Additional support provided by: Galleria Continua (San Gimignano – Beijing – Les Moulin – Havana); Fortes D’Aloia& Gabriel (Sao Paulo); kurimanzutto (Mexico City); and Galeria Luisa Strina (Sao Paulo).